- Bill Daly was asked directly whether the IIHF’s latest ruling changes Russia’s World Cup chances
- The NHL and the NHLPA run the 2028 tournament, not the IIHF
- Read below for Daly’s exact answer and where Russia stands now
The IIHF locking Russia out of the 2027 World Championship carries no weight with the NHL.
Deputy commissioner Bill Daly was asked this week whether the league would factor that ruling into any decision on inviting Russia to the 2028 World Cup of Hockey. He didn’t leave much to interpret.
“The IIHF’s decision to bar the Russian national team from next year’s World Championship has no impact on Russia’s possible participation in the 2028 World Cup.”
Daly gave that answer to Petr Shatrov of Russian outlet Sport24, and Pro Hockey Rumors relayed it Saturday.
That IIHF ruling landed Thursday, when the council upheld the ban on Russian teams over what it called ongoing safety, security and sporting integrity concerns.
Four events came off Russia’s 2027 calendar in one shot: the men’s World Championship, the World Juniors, and both the men’s and women’s U18 tournaments.
None of that binds the NHL. The World Cup belongs to the league and the NHLPA, so the IIHF doesn’t get a vote on who fills the eight spots.
February 2028 is the window. Calgary and Prague each host pool play, and Edmonton gets the two semifinals plus the final.
Take a look at the league’s announcement video from March:
Russia hasn’t been part of a best-on-best field since the 2016 World Cup. The country sat out the 4 Nations Face-Off and the Milan Cortina Olympics, and the 2027 Worlds now makes it six straight May tournaments without a Russian entry.
Nikita Kucherov, Andrei Vasilevskiy, Artemi Panarin and Matvei Michkov are all sitting on the other side of that line. A Russian roster in Edmonton would be one of the deeper ones in the tournament.
An invitation is still the NHL’s call to make. Daly just took the IIHF out of the equation.
