New York Islanders to host 2026 NHL All-Star Weekend

The NHL has announced that the league’s next All-Star Weekend will take place at UBS Arena in 2026.

The event will lead into the Winter Olympic Games, marking an unusual move for the league to have its all-star event in an Olympic year.

The official date hasn’t been announced as of yet. The 2026 Winter Olympics will run from Feb. 6-22, with the official dates for the hockey event still to be determined.

“We have been looking forward to UBS Arena playing host to one of our major League events since before construction of this wonderful arena began,” NHL commissioner Gary Bettman said in a league statement. “We have every confidence that the Islanders organization, led by Scott Malkin and Jon Ledecky, will deliver a celebration that will make the greater New York region and the NHL proud.”

The weekend will mark the second time the Islanders have hosted the event, first doing so at the old Nassau Coliseum back in 1983. Wayne Gretzky was named MVP.

“After an impressive All-Star Weekend earlier this month, the players are looking forward to raising the bar even higher at UBS Arena in 2026 where we know the New York Islanders will be great hosts for the event,” NHLPA executive director Marty Walsh said. “The NHL All-Star Weekend will be an exciting lead-in to the 2026 Olympic Winter Games.”

UBS Arena opened up in 2021, with the building seating 17,250 people for NHL events. The building is also one of the hosts for the PWHL’s New York franchise, hosting four of the team’s games this season.

The news comes on the same day that the Islanders faced off against the New York Rangers as part of the 2024 Stadium Series at MetLife Stadium in East Rutherford, New Jersey. The Devils beat Philadelphia 6-3 on Saturday in the first of two games featuring the four squads.