International hockey is certainly big at the moment, around record ratings for last month’s 4 Nations Face-Off and anticipation for the 2026 Milano Cortina Olympics. Those are set to be the first Games to have NHL players participating since 2014. But, around that, an odd other international option has entered the discussion, with U.S. president Donald Trump supporting an idea previously floated by Russian president Vladimir Putin on NHL-KHL exhibition games. That came as part of a wider international diplomatic call between the two leaders Tuesday:
President Donald Trump supported President Vladimir Putin’s idea to organize hockey games between the U.S. and Russia, involving NHL and KHL players, during their phone call on Tuesday.https://t.co/r0fIV2HdYU
— Greg Wyshynski (@wyshynski) March 18, 2025
Here’s more on that from that piece from ESPN’s Greg Wyshynski, which notes a distinct lack of approval from the NHL:
President Donald Trump supported President Vladimir Putin’s idea to organize hockey games between the U.S. and Russia during their phone call on Tuesday, according to a summary released by the Kremlin.
According to the Russian government, Trump and Putin discussed “hockey matches in the USA and Russia between Russian and American players playing in the NHL and KHL,” which is Russia’s professional hockey league.
“We have just become aware of the conversation between President Trump and President Putin,” the NHL said in a statement to ESPN. “Obviously, we were not a party to those discussions and it would be inappropriate for us to comment at this time.”
A notable part of this discussion, which Wyshynski references, is that both the NHL and the International Ice Hockey Federation have largely exiled Russia since that country’s 2022 invasion of Ukraine. Like many sports ventures, the NHL cut all business ties with Russia and Russian entities such as the KHL following that invasion. (The NHL had previously had clubs play exhibition games against KHL teams in 2008 and 2010, and had some level of ongoing dialogue and connection with the league.)
Beyond that, the IIHF has banned Russia (and Belarus) from competing in international tournaments through 2025. However, it remains up in the air if that will be extended to cover next year’s Olympics.
There certainly was a massive uptick of interest in hockey around the 4 Nations Face-Off, which came with its own political dimensions (especially around the Canada-U.S. final). There also definitely would be interest in KHL-NHL exhibition games. But it’s remarkable to see discussion of that originating from the leaders of Russia and the U.S. rather than the leagues in question.
It’s also interesting to see the NHL so reticent on the idea in their statement. That’s somewhat understandable considering the current status of Russia in much of the international community, including the IIHF, but that’s still a remarkably cautious statement around something the current U.S. president is openly discussing with a foreign leader. We’ll see if this comes to anything, but it’s definitely notable that this came up on a Trump-Putin call.
