![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/GettyImages-2201088933-scaled.jpg\")
<\/a><\/p>\n\n Jordan Binnington was in net for Canada\u2019s 4 Nations win. Will he be the top option for the Olympics? (Bruce Bennett \/ Getty Images)<\/p>\n
World Cup planning<\/p>\n
Planning is well underway for a World Cup of Hockey to take place in February 2028.<\/p>\n
NHL commissioner Gary Bettman indicated that the two host cities will be selected by the end of February, with 10 North American options and six more in Europe currently under consideration.<\/p>\n
The plan is to split the tournament between continents. The U.S. and Canada will be part of a group that plays down to two semifinalists at a North American host city, which will also host the final four. Another group playing at a European host city will also play down to two semifinalists.<\/p>\n
Of note is the fact that the league has resumed discussions with the IIHF on co-sanctioning the event after toying with the idea of hosting it unilaterally.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe believe we\u2019re in a good place with them in terms of being involved,\u201d Bettman said. \u201cNothing has been signed, sealed or delivered, but we think we\u2019re in a good place.\u201d<\/p>\n
Should it get finished, we may see a league (or leagues) in Europe shut down during the tournament just like the NHL does.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat we\u2019ve talked to them about over a long period of time now is them essentially delivering all of the European elements of the World Cup,\u201d Daly said. \u201cCountry participation. Player participation. Obviously, we wanted to have the World Cup in February, which they originally objected to, and we wanted to use a European host city, which they originally objected to. I think we\u2019re getting through those issues.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u2018Betting integrity and security\u2019<\/p>\n
That\u2019s what the agenda item was listed as for Tuesday\u2019s Board of Governors session. And that became a rather interesting 40-minute combined presentation.<\/p>\n
\u201cJoe Gillespie, deputy assistant director of the FBI, was with us when we had a discussion reinforcing the rules concerning sports betting, how it applies to us and generally raising consciousness and the importance of maintaining the integrity of our game,\u201d Bettman said.<\/p>\n
What points did the FBI emphasize?<\/p>\n
\u201cThe fact is, our people do know and have been constantly briefed on what you can and can\u2019t do,\u201d Bettman said. \u201cNot just no gambling on hockey, but with respect that, if you\u2019re going to gamble, you need to do it legally and you need to make sure you\u2019re in compliance with the rules. You can\u2019t share accounts. Don\u2019t do it from out of jurisdiction. And if you\u2019re approached by anybody seeking to get information, you need to report it to us so that we can take the appropriate response.<\/p>\n
\u201cIf you want to focus on what we do with respect to ensuring we\u2019re getting compliance, we\u2019re monitoring data points in every game in real time, everything that goes on. And we do the same thing with our betting partners and our prediction-market partners to make sure that there are no unexplainable shifts. If you compare that with the data of what\u2019s going on in the game, you can\u2019t do this and get away with it.\u201d<\/p>\n
Jared Maples, senior executive vice president and chief security officer for the NHL, also spoke to governors on Tuesday, as he did last month to the GMs in Toronto.<\/p>\n
His key message?<\/p>\n
\u201cProviding clarity on the rules and regulations that we monitor,\u201d Maples said. \u201cIt\u2019s the message that we\u2019ve had as a steady drumbeat across the league to every entity group. Specifically, there are rules that govern everyone\u2019s ability in the integrity space. Betting on sports \u2014 you can\u2019t bet on hockey, by the way; there\u2019s your news break \u2014 but really clarifying the rules that we monitor for and what we\u2019re actually enforcing. And then the training piece of it, the constituency groups that we\u2019re going to around the league.\u201d<\/p>\n
So, for example, if anyone within an NHL organization is approached by someone seeking injury information, the message from Maples to governors was that they should immediately communicate that to the league.<\/p>\n
Junior-NCAA logistics<\/p>\n
The NHL updated governors on the seismic shift in the grassroots of North American college and junior hockey.<\/p>\n
\u201cI gave a higher level of review of the dynamics of the leagues and the discussions and the interactions and suggested that we\u2019ll continue to report back to them on it,\u201d Daly said.<\/p>\n
As per the new collective bargaining agreement, the plan remains for each NHL organization to be able to send a 19-year-old prospect to its AHL affiliate if it wishes, starting next season. But there are still discussions on how exactly that will work.<\/p>\n
\u201cThere\u2019s a couple of steps to get there,\u201d Daly said. \u201cWe have to reopen our agreement with the CHL, and we have to negotiate what that provision (regarding 19-year-olds) looks like. But certainly that\u2019s the expectation that everybody has.\u201d<\/p>\n
The NHL-CHL agreement has four more years on it but can be reopened on the 19-year-old rule prior to June 30 this year.<\/p>\n
Revenues<\/p>\n
The NHL told governors it is projecting revenues in the neighborhood of $6.8 to $6.9 billion for the 2025-26 season.<\/p>\n
If that\u2019s where it lands, Bettman indicated that it won\u2019t result in any change to the payroll range the league has previously agreed to with the NHLPA. That agreement, signed in January of 2025, calls for the cap ceiling to go from $95.5 million this season to $104 million next year.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe\u2019re right on projections,\u201d Bettman said. \u201cWhen we did it, we kind of had a good guess as to what the Rogers (national Canadian media rights) deal would be. So we took that into account before it was done, and we made good projections.\u201d<\/p>\n
Of note, though: Daly confirmed that players are \u201cprobably\u201d going to receive a top-up on their salaries after the season to ensure a 50-50 split of hockey-related revenues with owners.<\/p>\n
That means NHL players will likely each be paid a little more than each of their contracts calls for in 2025-26.<\/p>\n
Nordiques retro jerseys<\/p>\n
Plans are afoot for the Colorado Avalanche to wear their Nordiques retro jerseys in Montreal when they play the Candiens at the Bell Centre on Jan. 29. That would mean both clubs that night will have on their dark jerseys, which requires league approval, with the Avs in Nordiques blue and the Habs in their home reds.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s not ironed out quite yet, but yes, very possibly,\u201d Avalanche president Joe Sakic said Tuesday.<\/p>\n
Expect a joint announcement from the two clubs soon. Daly said the league would sign off on it once both teams are ready to announce it.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. \u2014 The NHL\u2019s senior leadership has remained steadfast about not formulating a Plan B in…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":338188,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[556],"tags":[64,63,7522,575,85],"class_list":{"0":"post-338187","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-nhl","8":"tag-au","9":"tag-australia","10":"tag-colorado-avalanche","11":"tag-nhl","12":"tag-sports"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/338187","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=338187"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/338187\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/338188"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=338187"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=338187"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=338187"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}