NHL GM Meeting Rundown: Trump’s Surprise Comment; All-Star Shakeup & More from Commissioner Bettman

NHL Commissioner Gary Bettman spoke at the NHL GM meetings on Wednesday.

The meetings began on Monday, and the three-day conference ended on Wednesday. The mid-season meetings discuss the state of the game and other pressing matters around the sport.

On Wednesday, Commissioner Bettman discussed several topics, including recent comments from President Trump, the state of the All-Star game, NHL Draft changes, and more.

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Donald Trump’s Surprise Comment

On Tuesday, a report surfaced that the President of the United States, Donald Trump, recently spoke to Russian President Vladamir Putin and supported the idea of hockey games on both U.S. and Russian soil between American and Russian hockey players. The concept would include players from both the NHL and KHL.

On Wednesday, league officials said that they were surprised by the comments made during the phone call. Commissioner Bettman denied the opportunity to say anything, which was probably the smart move. There has been no relationship between the NHL and KHL since March of 2022.

Russia and Belarus are currently banned from all International Ice Hockey Federation competitions, including World Championships and World Juniors. It started in 2022 when Russia invaded Ukraine, and both Russia and Belarus have been banned since. The ban has been extended until the 2025/26 meeting, which would also keep Russian and Belarussian players out of the Olympics.

I don’t think the President’s comments will change anything regarding that relationship. It would be cool to see Matvei Michkov, Alexander Ovechkin, Nikita Kucherov, and so many more players compete on an international stage. However, I doubt the NHL budges on this before the IIHF. The best bet would be to convince the Olympic Committee to allow Russia to compete at the Olympics since they have the final say.

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All-Star Shakeup

The 4 Nations Face-Off greatly exceeded its expectations.

A new bar has been set for the NHL All-Star weekend, which has complicated things for 2026. The New York Islanders are currently set to host the weekend, and the plan is pretty set in stone. With the Olympics following shortly after, all Olympic players will be in New York, as they all will fly to Italy from New York City.

Commissioner Bettman said that the “bar has been raised” for the NHL All-Star weekend. With the success of 4 Nations, it’s been reported that alternate plans for the weekend are being discussed.

It may be difficult to completely change the weekend to follow in the hype from the 4 Nations Face-Off. However, reformatting the weekend to follow in the excitement from 4 Nations is still in play.

I won’t set my expectations high–4 Nations is a tough act to follow.

However, the NHL All-Star weekend is usually my second favorite of the four major sports. As long as they don’t give us another three-on-three tournament, it will probably be okay, especially with the Olympics following.

Read More: OPINION: 4 Nations Face-Off Puts Other All-Star Games to Shame

More from Commissioner Gary Bettman

While the reaction to President Trump’s comments and the All-Star weekend were the most “newsworthy” of today’s results, Commissioner Gary Bettman still made other remarks worth noting.

First, while this was not a direct comment from Bettman, no rule changes were introduced at the meetings.

The 2025 NHL Draft will look a bit different than usual. Usually, it is “centralized,” meaning coaches, management, executives, and others are in-house at the draft. This year, the NHL is moving forward with a “decentralized” draft, much like the NFL, NBA, and MLB drafts. Only the top 50 prospects and one representative from each team will be formally invited to attend. Others may attend, but it will not be from a formal invite.

Per Elliotte Friedman, Bettman did not hide his displeasure about the change. Other GMs reportedly aren’t so thrilled with it, either. That said, they are not ruling out a return to the centralized format in the near future.

Another thing Bettman voiced his displeasure about was extending three-on-three overtime.

I mean, it makes sense. There are better ways to improve overtime: start with one more 5v5 period, pace penalties (stop circling around the zone), and a shot clock (okay, that one may be a stretch). Extending 3v3 is not the way to improve OT.

Bettman also mentioned that the start of the 2025/26 NHL season will be on October 7th. It’s not really news, but it’s worth sharing.

Lastly, Bettman announced that the NHL and NHLPA would meet the week of April 1st to discuss the new collective bargaining agreement or CBA. The current CBA will expire before the start of the 2026/27 season (September 2026), so it’s important to get going to avoid another lockout.

There have not been any CBA talks yet. April will be the first time.

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