Elliotte Friedman makes his thoughts clear on return of World Cup of Hockey in 2028, reveals key interests from Vancouver, Edmonton & more

World Cup of Hockey is slated to return in 2028 with eight teams set to compete. There is reportedly a lot of interest in being a host site, including among some major hockey cities in North America.

Per Elliotte Friedman, at least three North American cities are interested in housing some contests.

"I think they like the idea of teams of countries in Europe hosting some of the games," he said on '32 Thoughts.' (25:10) "I've heard there's interest in West North America, like I've heard Seattle is interested. I've heard Edmonton is interested. I've heard Vancouver is interested."

Friedman added the challenge with hosting in Europe is that the other interested sites are far away and travel becomes a logistical nightmare.

The NHL insider continued:

"I know that it sounds insane because you're going to have games in Europe, but there's a bias towardhthe eastern United States or eastern Canada if you're going to have games in Europe. I don't know how they're going to feel about the idea of Europe and western Canada, right? We'll find out."

He reiterated that there is a real commitment to this and that they want to travel between locations. He acknowledged the injury risk but believes that teams that accept injury risk for the Olympics or even the 4 Nations Face-Off can accept it for this, too.

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NHL commissioner addresses return of World Cup of Hockey

The World Cup of Hockey will be back in February 2028. With the 4 Nations Face-Off, the upcoming Olympics, and this, there are rising chances for NHL players to compete in international events.

World Cup Hockey is coming back (Imagn)

NHL commissioner Gary Bettman said via the league's website:

“We will be asking for bids on hosting games. We will have a package that’s just about done that will be done in the next few weeks and we couldn’t be more excited about making a reality Olympics-World Cups-Olympics-World Cups on a regular schedule of the best hockey players in the world representing their countries and we know the full-blown World Cup, of which this (the 4 Nations Face-Off) is simply a sampler, is going to be sensational.”

Right now, the Edmonton Oilers, Vancouver Canucks, and Seattle Kraken could be host teams for the World Cup in a few years.