Per an announcement from Gary Bettman this afternoon, the NHL will return to the Olympic Games for the first time since Sochi in 2014

Early this afternoon, flanked by NHLPA president Marty Walsh and IIHF chairman Luc Tardiff, NHL commissioner Gary Bettman announced that the NHL will send its players to the Olympics in 2026 and 2030.

The NHL—citing a variety of reasons from injury risk to a lack of in-game brand exposure—has not allowed its players to participate in the Olympics since the Sochi Olympics in 2014.

There are a number of Red Wings who should be in line to participate in the '26 games, with Dylan Larkin (USA) and Moritz Seider (Germany) probably the most likely to be tapped to lace up for their countries.

Lucas Raymond (Sweden), Alex DeBrincat (USA), and Olli Maatta (Finland) are all also strong candidates to participate.  Canada of course has a deep pool of talent from which to draw its selections, but Jake Walman will be a worthy contender for a spot on that roster.  

Meanwhile, youngsters like Jonatan Berggren (Sweden), Simon Edvinsson (Sweden), and Marco Kasper (Austria) could very well play their way into consideration.  In Kasper's case, the bigger question is whether Austria can qualify than whether he would be selected if they do.

One major question that will need to be answered before those games is whether Russia will be allowed to participate.  The Russians have (rightly) been excluded from international athletic competition since their invasion of Ukraine began in February 2022.

The '26 games will be hosted by Italy in the cities of Milan and Cortina D'Ampezzo, while the site for the '30 games will be chosen in July of this year.

To state the obvious, returning to the Olympics is a step in the right direction for the NHL.  Olympic hockey helps attract new fans to the sport who might not otherwise tune into NHL action, even if the league does not receive any direct compensation for its participation.  Further, the NHL' should not be allowed to prohibit its players from representing their countries at the sport's biggest international stage. 

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