NHL, NHLPA confirm 2028 World Cup of Hockey

The NHL and NHLPA confirmed Wednesday that they're moving forward with a World Cup of Hockey scheduled for February 2028.

The location is still to be determined, with the league beginning to accept bids from potential host cities shortly. North American and European cities are eligible to stage the event.

"International best-on-best competition is very important to our players - representing their countries on the ice is in their DNA - and hockey fans love it," NHL commissioner Gary Bettman said in a statement.

"Resuming Olympic participation next season and staging a World Cup of Hockey in February 2028 will provide expanded opportunity for more players to represent more nations in best-on-best competition. With this tournament - and the World Cup's return to regular rotation - the NHL and NHLPA take a major step in our joint commitment to international hockey."

The NHL previously committed to sending players to the 2026 and 2030 Olympics and plans to host World Cups two years after each Winter Games. The 4 Nations Face-Off begins Wednesday and marks the first men's best-on-best tournament since the 2016 World Cup.

Team North America and Team Europe participated in the 2016 World Cup, but Bettman indicated the 2028 edition will only feature countries. Russia's status for the 2028 World Cup is undecided at this point, despite the nation being barred from international events in recent years due to the ongoing war with Ukraine.

"I'd love to see our Russian players playing in these tournaments again," NHLPA executive director Marty Walsh said, per Sportsnet's Luke Fox.

The IIHF - which oversees the Olympics, world championships, and world juniors - isn't involved in organizing the World Cup.