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Originally Posted by burnitdown
What a pleasant poster you are. Where did sticking it to the employer come from?? If you read my posts, I was saying an owner may regret this stance if an RFA/UFA jumped at the chance to sign a one-year deal overseas so they could play in the Olympics...which you just agreed could happen. So what are you arguing?
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I am arguing that, while plausible, the odds of what you are suggesting are completely remote. You want to believe it is instead highly likely to satisfy your wants. And yes, such an act would be specifically to stick it to the NHL, which is why it is not likely at all.
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As for glossing over Hockey Canada's awkward position...I didn't respond cause your point didn't make sense. If Player X signs an overseas contract this summer with the specific intent to play in the Olympics, Hockey Canada would be ecstatic to add them to the Olympic roster (provided they're good enough). The league they're playing in will shut down for the Olympics and the NHL would have nothing to gain by trying to step in and force a Suiss team to ban a player from playing. It'll only get awkward if players with existing NHL contracts insist on playing at the Olympics (like Ovechkin)....but that wasn't what I was talking about.
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Dude, the "Swiss team" would have nothing to say about it. The NHL would know why your hypothetical version of Sam Bennett left the NHL for one year. And the NHL would make it clear to Hockey Canada that it considers such a player to be a renegade. So while Hockey Canada would have every right to name such a player to their Olympic team, it would have to weigh doing so against pissing off an organization that it is heavily reliant on to field its teams. Hockey Canada might do it anyway, but it might not. Certainly not for unproven players like Bennett and Lazar.