From 1998-2014, the NHL let its players go to the Winter Olympics.
This stopped in 2018. And both the commissioner and the team owners seem dead set against future NHL Olympic participation.
But there is one thing that could secure NHL participation in future Olympics. Future TV deals could be contingent on whether the NHL lets its players into the Olympics.
NBC currently has both the NHL and the Olympics. The NHL deal expires real soon, but the Olympics are locked there for quite a while.
If a competing company to NBCUniversal, like ViacomCBS, secures the NHL broadcast rights, they are gonna want such a stipulation because they likely have no desire to air any hockey that competes with Olympic hockey. NBC did eventually air a few games during the 2018 Olympics, but they weren't set until the Olympics had almost started. This technically did not "compete" with Olympic hockey because it was all on the same network.
And if the league's bosses are still adamant about keeping their players from the Olympics, the league is gonna have a hard time securing a new TV deal.
