The NHL and NHLPA have announced they will be putting on a four-team international tournament in 2025 that will replace next season’s All-Star Weekend. The four participating countries will be Canada, the United States, Finland, and Sweden.
According to the Daily Faceoff’s Frank Seravalli, the games will take place in both Montreal and Boston. The midseason tournament will be the first best-on-best action we have seen in almost a decade after the 2016 World Cup of Hockey.
The tournament will not be called the World Cup of Hockey, instead, it is being branded as the “4 Nations Faceoff.” League commissioner Gary Bettman added on Friday that the goal is for the World Cup to return in both 2028 and 2032.
The NHL's international calendar resumes next year with the 2025 NHL 4 Nations Face-Off!
Canada | Finland | Sweden | USA
Details: https://t.co/RiQ6B1gOD2 pic.twitter.com/aHQmNuJCmJ
— NHL (@NHL) February 2, 2024
The new tourney will consist of seven total games played over nine days from February 12-20. Each nation will bring a 23-man roster. All 23 players must be under NHL contract.
Each team will play three tournament games in a traditional round-robin format. You will get three points for a regulation win, two points for an OT/shootout win, and one point for an OT/shootout loss.
At the end of the initial games, the two teams with the best records will then square off in a one-game final.
Despite being the third-ranked nation in the latest IIHF men’s world rankings, Russia will not be involved as they are still banned from international competition due to the war in Ukraine.
Here’s the league’s press release:
NHL and NHLPA Announce 2025 NHL 4 Nations Face-Off
NEW YORK/TORONTO (Feb. 2, 2024) – The National Hockey League (NHL) and National Hockey League Players’ Association (NHLPA) today announced a new event for the 2024-25 NHL season: the 2025 NHL 4 Nations Face-Off, which will feature international tournament play between NHL Players from Canada, Finland, Sweden and the United States. The 2025 NHL 4 Nations Face-Off will take place in February 2025 in two North American cities – one in Canada and one in the United States. NHL All-Star Weekend will not be held in the 2024-25 season.
The 2025 NHL 4 Nations Face-Off will consist of a total of seven games played over a nine-day period from Feb. 12 to 20, along with two designated training/practice days (Feb. 10 and Feb. 11)
Each team will be comprised of 23 NHL Players (20 skaters, 3 goalies) selected by each National Association: Hockey Canada, Finnish Ice Hockey Association, Swedish Ice Hockey Association and USA Hockey. Players must be under an NHL contract for the 2024-25 season and on an NHL roster as of Dec. 2, 2024. All roster announcement dates will be made by the NHL and NHLPA, with each of the participating National Associations selecting its initial six players this summer, prior to selecting its complete rosters later in the year.
All games in the 2025 NHL 4 Nations Face-Off will be played in accordance with NHL rules. Each team will play three tournament games in a traditional Round Robin format, under the following points system: 3 points for a win in regulation time; 2 points for a win in overtime/shootout; 1 point for a loss in overtime/shootout; and 0 points for a loss in regulation time. The two teams with the best tournament record will then advance to a one-game Final. The overtime format for Round Robin games will be three-on-three sudden death for a 10-minute period, followed by a three-round shootout. The overtime format for the one-game Final will be full strength sudden death through successive 20-minute periods until one team scores.
Today’s announcement was made from the 2024 NHL All-Star Weekend at a news conference featuring NHL Commissioner Gary Bettman, NHL Deputy Commissioner Bill Daly, NHLPA Executive Director Marty Walsh and NHL All-Stars Connor McDavid, Sebastian Aho, Elias Pettersson and Auston Matthews.
Additional details for the 2025 NHL 4 Nations Face-Off will be announced when available. Fans can sign up to receive information and updates at https://www.nhl.com/events/2025-nhl-4-nations-face-off.
