-
Greg Wyshynski, ESPN
The NHL is not looking to add an in-season tournament like the NBA’s to its regular-season schedule.
Earlier this month, the NBA and commissioner Adam Silver unveiled the European cup-style competition that the league will hold starting this coming season. Tournament games will count in the standings leading up to the championship, which will not count toward the teams’ season record. The winning team will be awarded the NBA Cup, and players on that team will receive $500,000, with other financial prizes being given to runners-up.
NHL deputy commissioner Bill Daly told ESPN on Tuesday that his league is not currently seeking to follow the NBA’s lead.
“No consideration being given to in-season tournaments,” he said in an email.
NHL Players’ Association executive director Marty Walsh told ESPN there has “not yet” been any discussion among the players about an in-season tournament. He expressed openness about the idea.
“I think it’s worth looking at anything that’s out there,” Walsh said. “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 said the length of the NHL regular season would be a consideration in any discussion about an in-season tournament.
Walsh was hired in February as the replacement for outgoing executive director Donald Fehr. Rather than an in-season tournament, Walsh said the players he’s spoken with have been more focused on international hockey possibilities during the regular season. That includes a potential World Cup of Hockey in 2025 and a return to the Winter Olympics in 2026. NHL players haven’t represented their countries in a men’s Olympic hockey tournament since the 2014 Sochi Games.