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Despite the National Basketball Association adding an in-season tournament that will begin this upcoming season, the same idea is not being discussed in the National Hokey League.
“No consideration being given to in-season tournaments,” NHL deputy commissioner Bill Daly said in an email to ESPN this week.
Adam Silver and the NBA unveiled a European cup-style competition that will begin this year, with tournament games counting in the standings leading up to the league championship, which will now count towards the teams' season record, per ESPN's Greg Wyshynski.
The winning team will be awarded the NBA Cup and each player will receive $500,000.
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“I think it's worth looking at anything that's out there,” NHL Players Association executive director Marty Walsh told ESPN this week. “I tell players all the time, even if you have an idea that you think is kind of off-the-wall a little bit, just run it by me. You never know what turns into a brilliant idea.”
Walsh explained that, although there is openness to the idea, there hadn't been any discussion among players about an NHL in-season tournament. Any discussions would have to reckon with the length of the league's regular season, which is already a gruelling 82 games.
Most NHL players Walsh spoke to are more interested in international hockey possibilities during the year, which is something that has really dropped off since the league stopped sending players to the men's Olympic hockey tournament after the 2014 Sochi Games.
The hope is that NHL players will be able to return to the Winter Olympics in 2026, and that there will be a World Cup of Hockey in 2025.
