Gary Bettman brushes off retirement speculation amid rumors of him stepping down as NHL commissioner

Gary Bettman has been the commissioner of the NHL for 31 years and does not have plans to step down anytime soon.

He took over as league commissioner on Feb. 1, 1993, and has enjoyed a successful run leading the charge. Bettman has increased the number of franchises from 24 to 32 during his tenure, including recent expansion teams in Vegas and Seattle that have done well.

TSN hockey insider Chris Johnston shared Bettman's response to whether he's given general managers an update on his future as league commissioner on X.

"Absolutely not. You keep trying to get rid of me. No such luck. I'm going to see if I can outlast you," Bettman said on Wednesday.

Bettman is longest longest-standing commissioner of all major sports leagues by a wide margin. NBA Commissioner Adam Silver, MLB Commissioner Rob Manfred and NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell all began their tenures from 2006 onwards.

Gary Bettman responded to the discussions of a United States-Russia hockey series

Reports surfaced on Tuesday that U.S. President Donald Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin discussed potentially organizing hockey games between the USA and Russia involving players from the NHL and KHL.

NHL teams have not faced off against KHL teams since preseason action in 2010 during the NHL Premiere Challenge. The Phoenix Coyotes and Carolina Hurricanes participated in those games with Dinamo Riga and SKA Saint Petersburg.

Gary Bettman was asked about those discussions during his media availability at the GM meetings in Florida. TSN hockey insider Chris Johnston shared his comments on the matter.

"I'm not going to speculate or anything else. It is what it is," Bettman said on Wednesday.

Russia has not been allowed to participate in any international ice hockey tournaments since invading Ukraine in February 2022. It remains to be seen whether they will return for the 2026 Winter Olympics in Italy. Russian players including Alex Ovechkin have voiced their displeasure that they were unable to represent their country at recent events like the 4 Nations Face-Off.