The New York Islanders are returning to the NHL's limelight. The franchise will host the 2026 NHL All-Star festivities, making the first time the All-Star Game will return to Long Island for the first time since the 1983 season.

The All-Star game and other related activities were held in Toronto earlier this year. The NHL will skip the All-Star Game in 2025 as it will host a best-on-best tournament with Canada, the United States, Sweden and Finland as the participant.

Many thought the NHL would also skip the All-Star festivities in 2026 because NHL players will be participating in the Winter Olympics, but the league has decided to take part in both events.

The 2026 NHL All-Star festivities will be held at the UBS Arena, which opened early in the 2021 season. The last NHL All-Star Game hosted by the Islanders was held at the Nassau Coliseum. In that 1983 game, the Campbell Conference All-Stars defeated the Wales Conference All-Stars 9-3 and Wayne Gretzky was named the game's Most Valuable Player.

The NHL will use the All-Star Game as a “send-off” to the Olympics.

“After an impressive All-Star Weekend earlier this month, the players are looking forward to raising the bar even higher at UBS Arena in 2026 where we know the New York Islanders will be great hosts for the event,” NHL Players' Association Executive Director Marty Walsh said. “The NHL All-Star Weekend will be an exciting lead-in to the 2026 Olympic Winter Games.”

In recent seasons, the NHL has combined All-Star skill events with a three-on-three tournament between the league's four divisions. The format may change with the Olympics on the horizon.