Plans for 2027 NHL All-Star Weekend at UBS Arena to be revealed by the end of the playoffs

Yes, the NHL essentially knows how it wants to run the All-Star Weekend at UBS Arena from Feb. 5-7, 2027.

Yet NHL commissioner Gary Bettman is not ready to publicly disclose how the weekend will be formatted.

“It's a work in progress,” Bettman said on Tuesday at the NHL office in Manhattan during a media session that was part of the Associated Press Sports Editors’ meeting. “We're not going to get specific as to what we're doing. It will be an event that's typical of the level and expectations that people have for our events. We will give our fans in this area a good weekend at UBS.”

But NHL deputy commissioner Bill Daly, speaking briefly to Newsday after Bettman’s comments, said those plans will be disclosed by the end of the playoffs in June.

Regardless of the format, the Islanders’ Matthew Schaefer, who just completed an outstanding rookie season after being selected first overall in the NHL Draft in June, likely has a good chance of participating.

Schaefer, who turns 19 on Sept. 5, tied Hall of Famer Brian Leetch’s NHL record for the most goals by a rookie defenseman with 23. His emergence as one of the league’s top players, coupled with his outgoing personality, was a key reason for attendance at Islanders’ games increasing year-over-year for the first time in the five-year history of the $1.1 billion UBS Arena.

The Islanders averaged 16,439 fans per game during their 41-game home schedule at the 17,255-seat arena, a 2.87% increase from last season’s average of 15,979, which was the lowest total of the team’s five seasons in Elmont.

“Matthew Schaefer has been terrific for the Islanders,” Bettman said. “He's been grabbing attention. What he's emblematic of is an extraordinary time of talent in the NHL. We have the elder statesmen in [the Penguins’ Sidney] Crosby and [the Capitals’ Alex] Ovechkin this season. We have the veterans in terms of [the Oilers’ Connor] McDavid, [the Avalanche’s Nathan] MacKinnon, [the Maple Leafs’ Auston] Matthews, just examples of it. And then look at the youngsters, [the Sharks’ Macklin] Celebrini, Schaefer, [Chicago’s Connor] Bedard.

“We're blessed and I think Matthew Schaefer, who I had the opportunity to spend a little time with at the draft, is an extraordinary young man and he represents the game and the future of the game on and off the ice very well."

UBS Arena was initially slated to host an Olympic send-off event this February before the NHL pivoted in October and cancelled those plans while announcing the Islanders’ home rink would host the 2027 All-Star Weekend.

The NHL first announced on Feb. 18, 2024, that UBS Arena would host the 2026 All-Star Weekend, which morphed in 2025 to an Olympic send-off event.

The NHL sent players to the 2026 Winter Olympics for the first time since 2014, and the league also will send players to the 2030 Winter Games in France. The next international best-on-best competition will be the World Cup of Hockey in February 2028.