NHL making progress on 2022 Olympic participation

The 2022 Winter Olympics in Beijing are under one year away and there’s no definitive answer yet as to whether the NHL will be participating.

That could all change soon as Frank Seravalli reported on Tuesday that the International Olympic Committee has verbally agreed to cover the cost of travel and insurance for NHL players.

Frank Seravalli

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Sources: #NHL + #NHLPA have made progress on Olympic participation for Beijing 2022. They have received a verbal commitment from IOC to fund travel, insurance, etc. - a big previous hurdle. But it’s not a legal (document) commitment - and other commercial questions remain.

2:01 PM · May 25, 2021

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Last summer, the NHL and the Players’ Association reached a new Collective Bargaining Agreement ahead of the summer bubble playoffs and one of the concessions was that the league would support players representing their countries in the 2022 and 2026 Olympic Games.

While players want to participate in the Olympics, the league obviously views it as a nuisance. The NHL essentially has to shut down operation for a few weeks during the middle of the season and teams risk having their players get injured. Back in 2014, John Tavares got hurt while playing for Team Canada and didn’t suit up again for the New York Islanders that season.

The NHL participated in the 1998, 2002, 2006, 2010, and 2014 Games but pulled out for PyeongChang 2018. If the NHL does send its players, this would be our first opportunity to see @Connor McDavid and @Sidney Crosby play together on a major stage.