Gary Bettman (David Kirouac-Imagn Images) [https://deweb-519a7.b-cdn.net/post-images/608cc006-2cc9-4e2a-b744-486e4693394f.jpeg] Gary Bettman (David Kirouac-Imagn Images) NHL commissioner Gary Bettman wrapped up the league’s GM meetings Wednesday by updating reporters on upcoming events, collective bargaining agreement negotiations and other news. Regarding the CBA negotiations with the NHL Players Association [https://thehockeynews.com/news/nhl-nhlpas-new-relationship-is-a-good-start-for-avoiding-another-lockout], Bettman said he wants a quick, quiet and painless process, beginning with negotiations in early April. That's optimistic news in hopes of avoiding another painful lockout, which didn't happen during negotiations in 2020 but did happen three times before, most recently in 2012-13 and most notably in all of 2004-05. What potential rule changes or discussions at NHL GM meetings interest our panel the most? We’re reacting to other standout points in a new edition of Screen Shots, where we break down hockey news into smaller columns below. Let's get right to it. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- The 2026 NHL All-Star Weekend is scheduled for February 2026 at UBS Arena, home of the New York Islanders [http://thn.com/nyislanders]. However, based on Bettman's question about whether it's still on, how the event will look seems to be up in the air. “We’re re-evaluating how we want to do things because I think we've raised the bar about as high as you can for an All-Star Game in any sport, and so we want to make sure whatever we do is up to the standards that we've created,” Bettman said. While it certainly feels at first glance like the NHL is shoehorning this event into their pre-Olympics [https://thehockeynews.com/news/latest-news/nhl-commissioner-wont-speculate-on-putin-and-trumps-discussion-about-a-usa-russia-competition] schedule, the league is committing to it. “I don’t want to start speculation. We promised the Islanders an event, and Islanders fans deserve events that we’ve promised, so we’re focused on what we need to do,” Bettman said. “I don’t want to be pinned down at this moment.” The biggest issue is returning to an all-star format that now seems dated [https://thehockeynews.com/news/opinion-its-time-the-nhl-ends-all-star-games-with-the-return-of-best-on-best-hockey] after the competitively dynamic 4 Nations Face-Off [https://thehockeynews.com/news/latest-news/4-nations-face-off-the-nhl-finally-gave-the-players-what-they-wanted-and-the-players-delivered]. The 4 Nations tournament raised the bar for what the league’s fans expect in terms of player effort, and an all-star format likely won’t please everyone in that regard. The league and NHL Players Association must be extremely creative to put together an event that will capture the attention of consumers the way the 4 Nations Face-Off did. We’ll be watching closely to see what type of all-star-ish event they settle on as a spark for the pre-Olympics event. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Bettman said he doesn't like prolonging overtime during the regular season because of the ice conditions and the wear and tear on players. But there’s a trend the NHL can capitalize on by slightly extending the length. There’s been a new high in the percentage of games decided in overtime before shootouts – from 68.5 percent in 2022-23 (a high at the time) to 69.9 percent last season and now to 74.2 percent this season. NHL GMs should want to keep the needle moving in that direction and get as many games settled in OT as possible. From our perspective, extending overtime by another two minutes wouldn’t be catastrophic for players or the playing surface. Although the shootout must be in place to guarantee a winner in a relatively timely fashion during regular-season games, the more games that can be settled in some type of team format, the better. So we’re all for slightly extending OT. If there proves to be a problem with a seven-minute overtime, they can just switch it back later. NHL Commissioner Won't Speculate On Putin And Trump's Discussion About A USA-Russia Competition [https://deweb-519a7.b-cdn.net/post-images/b228388c-ffa0-4f90-9eee-e9eee3b22e96.jpeg] NHL Commissioner Won't Speculate On Putin And Trump's Discussion About A USA-Russia Competition NHL commissioner Gary Bettman told reporters on Wednesday that the league was caught off guard about the conversation that Vladimir Putin and Donald Trump previously had regarding a hockey competition between American and Russian players. [https://thehockeynews.com/news/latest-news/nhl-commissioner-wont-speculate-on-putin-and-trumps-discussion-about-a-usa-russia-competition] -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Finally, Bettman said will be trying out a decentralized draft [https://thehockeynews.com/news/what-we-will-and-wont-miss-with-a-decentralized-nhl-draft] in Los Angeles [http://thn.com/la] this summer, but they aren't committed to it for years to come. The teams were the ones who asked for this decentralized draft format, and if it doesn’t work out as hoped, there’s clearly a way for them to go back to a centralized format. That flexibility is a good thing, and the league deserves kudos for (a) being willing to try something new and (b) keeping a return to the long-held format in their back pocket. It’s all about options in many, if not most, things the NHL does. And experimenting to try to improve is something the league should always be doing. Get the latest news and trending stories by following The Hockey News on Google News [https://news.google.com/publications/CAAqBwgKMK-q0gsw7sXpAw?hl=en-CA&gl=CA&ceid=CA%3Aen] and by subscribing to The Hockey News newsletter here [http://eepurl.com/i7OC4I]. And share your thoughts by commenting below the article on THN.com.
