New rules at the 4 Nations Face-Off fuels speculation of potential changes in the NHL next season

The NHL's initial best-on-best tourney in three years since the World Cup of Hockey in 2016 tips off Wednesday when it begins the 4 Nations Face-Off.

The United States, Canada, Finland, and Sweden's top players take to the ice in the seven-game tournament Feb. 12-20.

The event's initial four games are in Montreal's Bell Centre, and Boston's TD Garden hosts the tourney's closing two round-robin games and title game.

The tournament is co-promoted by the NHL and NHLPA, a setup that is a warm-up to next year's return of the league to Olympic play in the 2026 Winter Games in Milan and Cortina, Italy.

Each team plays three round-robin tilts, and the two that carry the best mark meet in the finale. Most of the rules of the NHL apply, except there are considerable exceptions when it comes to points awarded and in overtime.

Teams earn three points for a regulation win, two for a win in overtime or a shootout, one for a loss in overtime or a shootout, and zero for a regulation loss.

There is a 3-on-3 sudden death period in the round-robin in overtime of 10 minutes, doubling up on the five-minute period of the NHL's regular period. In a scoreless tie after that time, it's a shootout.

The title game, though, plays it old school, using playoff-style overtime, playing periods of 20 minutes of 5-on-5 until a score is tallied.

With these rule experiments, rampant speculation is that next season the NHL is going to continue these same rule innovations.

Notably, the extended 3-on-3 overtime, to cut down on shootouts and put a more decisive finishing touch to regular-season games.