It's been 10 years (2014) since we've seen NHLers participate at the Olympic Games, producing a true best-on-best hockey tournament. A new report suggests that may be changing in the near future.

NHLPA

In an interview with ESPN, the head of the NHL Players Association said his focus is getting players back to the games as soon as 2026 in Italy. Marty Walsh made it clear it's a priority for him and his members.

"My focus is to try and make that happen. I'm working with commissioner Gary Bettman, collectively together with the IIHF, and hopefully we'll be able to come up with an agreement and move forward. A lot of players from around the globe want to play for their home country. They want that best-on-best tournament. They want to be part of it."

Canada's gold-medal winning team from 2014. Photo: CBC

Olympic History

After allowing players to compete in five straight Winter Olympics, the NHL opted not to send them in 2018 citing a major disruption to the league's regular season. After negotiations between the players and the NHL it was announced NHLers would return to the Olympics in 2022. However, the league reneged on that citing the huge disruption that COVID-19 had caused in the previous two years. Several players were unhappy with that stance.

The Elephant in the Room

One major issue for a true best-on-best hockey tournament is, of course, Russia. The NHL wanted to hold a World Cup in 2024, but backed out after Russia's invasion of Ukraine. The NHL recently said they were hoping to hold the event in 2025, but it seems doubtful the Russia-Ukraine war will be over by then, and even if it is, there will be plenty of damage to repair on the world stage. We may see Russia shutout of the 2026 Winter Olympics as well.