NHL to allow players to take part in the 2026 and 2030 Winter Olympics... marking the end to a 12 year absence of the world's best hockey players from the Games

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The NHL will allow the greatest hockey players in the world to play for their countries at the next two Winter Olympics - ending an absence of over a decade.

The world's top hockey league will allow its players to participate in the Winter Games in 2026 in Milan and in 2030 under an agreement announced Friday by the NHL, the NHL Players' Association, the International Ice Hockey Federation and the IOC.

NHL players have not been at the Olympics since 2014 in Sochi - a year where Canada claimed Gold, Sweden won silver, and Finland clinched the bronze

'There is a recognition of how important this is to the players,' NHL Commissioner Gary Bettman said at a news conference during All-Star Weekend. 

'Everybody felt on our ownership side that it was the right thing to do. ... This really came down to doing something because the players really wanted it.'

NHL players will take part in the next Winter Olympic games - ending a drought of 12 years

(L-R) IIHF President Luc Tarif, NHLPA director Marty Walsh, NHL commissioner Gary Bettman

Canada was the least team to win Olympic gold with NHL players back in Sochi in 2014

IIHF president Luc Tardif smiled and said, 'We made it' after two years worth of work that picked up over the past six months.

'With all the uncertainty that's been around it in years prior and just how great of an experience that it is, I think it's just awesome news and I'm sure a lot of players are really happy,' Canada and Pittsburgh Penguins star Sidney Crosby said. 'And especially to commit to two different Olympics, I think that'll be great.'

It's a win for the NHL - a league looking to expand its reach across the world - by allowing the best-of-the-best to play each other for their nations on a global stage.

Hockey has only occasionally hosted a World Cup, with the most recent taking place back in 2016 and no plans set for another tournament of that scale coming any time soon.

Players had hoped to take part in the 2018 Winter Olympic games in Pyeongchang, South Korea. However, disagreements over who would pay for insurance and travel costs as well as the time difference between Asia and North America were cited as factors in the league preventing its athletes from competing.

Momentum was building towards NHL players going back to the Olympics in 2022, but the Covid-19 pandemic prevented anyone from taking part in that.

That means a whole generation of the NHL's best and brightest have failed to fight for Olympic gold up until 2026.

Among others likely to make their Olympic debuts include Connor McDavid, Nathan MacKinnon, Connor Bedard, and Cale Makar of Canada; Auston Matthews, Jack Eichel, Charlie McAvoy, and Adam Fox of the United States; David Pastrnak of the Czech Republic; and Sebastian Aho and Mikko Rantanen of Finland. 

Sidney Crosby (87), one of those 2014 gold winners, called the announcement 'awesome news'

'The opportunity to do that is a dream come true,' McDavid said. 'I've been vocal about this. I feel like it´s important for hockey as we continue to try to grow our game internationally and at home. I think it´s a great thing.'

The NHL paused its season for the Olympics five times from 1998 through 2014, and most of the players now in the league grew up expecting to play on that stage. 

Bettman said in 2026 and '30, team owners will not be paying 'big ticket' costs like travel and insurance. That is up to the IIHF and respective organizing committees. Tardif said national federations and Olympic committees will contribute.

That lack of attendance in China was due to pandemic-related scheduling and travel issues. The decision not to attend has led to some hurt feelings among some players;  with McAvoy - a star defenseman on Boston Bruins - voicing his anguish on the matter as recently as this past fall.

'That one took a while to get over,' McAvoy said. 'You're picking sizes for your Ralph Lauren outfit to walk around in the opening ceremonies. That stuff got real. It got really real. And you internalize it. It works as motivation. You want to be a part of that, and then you just lose it in a matter of seconds.'

A generation of stars like Connor McDavid (L) and Nathan MacKinnon (R) have not played for their country at either a Winter Olympic games or at the rarely held World Cup of Hockey

While hockey may have to wait for the Olympics, they hope that a so-called '4 Nations Face-Off' between the USA, Canada, Sweden, and Finland will take place next year. Seven games are set to be played in all four countries in mid-February of 2025

'This marks a new era for international hockey,' NHLPA executive director Marty Walsh said. 'We view this event as a building block to a larger World Cup.'

Bettman reiterated that the NHL would like to get on a cycle of having an international 'best on best' tournament every two years.

The aforementioned 2016 World Cup of Hockey was held in Toronto on a much larger scale. Eight teams were fielded for this competition - with Russia and the Czech Republic joining the four countries set to take place in the 'Face-Off'.

In addition, a team of European players not from Czechia, Finland, Russia, or Sweden was iced as well as a group of North American players all under the age of 23.

That saw players like McDavid, MacKinnon, Matthews, and Eichel all being selected, but not playing for their respective nations.

There was momentum for a World Cup of Hockey to take place in 2024, but Russia's invasion of Ukraine scuttled any hopes of that taking place.

Russia's participation in the 2026 Olympics remains up in the air. They won gold as the 'Olympic Athletes from Russia' at the 2018 games and won silver as the ROC in 2022.

Tardif said an IIHF council meeting is scheduled for next week to make a decision on Russian and Belarusian participation in the 2025 world championship.

Tardif also said that the 2030 Winter Olympics will be held in his native in France - with no one set host city. Rather, the IOC is likely to select a number of sites in the south of the country and in the French Alps in an announcement later this year. The city of Nice is set to host hockey games. 

It remains to be seen if Russia will be allowed to participate in 2026. The IOC is allowing individual athletes from the country to compete under a neutral flag but banned Russians from team competitions at the 2024 Games in Paris.

The Russians - playing as the Olympic Athletes from Russia - took home Olympic gold in 2018 with a stacked roster including former Detroit Red Wings winger Pavel Datsyuk and current Minnesota Wild All-Star Kirill Kaprizov. Finland is now the defending Olympic champion after winning in Beijing.