The NHL announced a re-imagining of the league’s annual All-Star game this week, with the event switching back to a nation vs. nation format in 2026-27.
UBS Arena, home of the New York Islanders, will play host to All-Star weekend on February 5th and 6th. The venue was originally slated to host the event this season, however, due to the Olympics, it was pushed back a year. The league is tweaking the Skills Competition portion of the event, moving to a “Young Stars” showcase in 2027.
The Skills Competition portion of All-Star weekend will now be made up of 10 players aged 25 or younger competing in as many as 6 (out of a possible 8) events. The NHL and NHLPA will select the pool of players in an attempt to usher in a new wave of stars as they look to broaden their exposure beyond their local markets.
“Seeing the young players really shine in the format is really cool,” Islanders president of business operations Kelly Cheeseman said. “Obviously, we have one of those young players that I think will be participating. Our fans will get to see Matthew shine, which I think should be exciting for us.”
“It’s been a lot of anticipation for our fans…We’ve had a few starts and stops on this a couple times. So, to see something that was innovative, well thought through — the players, the players’ union, the commissioner, everybody weighed in on it, so everybody had their opinion on it. So, I think it’s well thought out.”
The league is also looking to further capitalize on the success of the 2026 Winter Games as well as the 4 Nations Faceoff by shifting back to a more global product for the All-Star game itself. The 2027 event will now feature teams from Canada, Finland, Sweden, and the United States, along with a “World Team” made up of players from any other nation.
Teams will then compete in a 3v3 round robin format tournament, before eventually crowning a champion. Commissioner Gary Bettman told reporters that the shift in format wasn’t in response to any particular issue that the league saw in previous iterations, but rather in giving fans more of what they want from the midseason event.
“Our fans like [All-Star Weekend],” commissioner Bettman said. “Our [All-Star Weekend] has worked well. We haven’t had some of the issues that some of the other leagues have had. Yes, we even blew ourselves up with 4 Nations by taking it to a whole new level, but there was never anything wrong with the All-Star format that we’ve been using for the last few years. And we think what we’ve laid out to you today is going to be fun and entertaining, and that’s really what it’s all about.”
Next season will mark the 5th anniversary of the UBS Arena opening, and will be the first time the Islanders have hosted the event since 1983.
Photo: Andrew NYR. This file is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 4.0 International license.