Here's what I think will happen. I think the players love the Olympics. The stars love to play in the tournament, and the rank and file love the two weeks off in the dead of winter to escape the spotlight.
My thinking here is, they'll sell the rookies down the river to get the Olympics. 4 year ELCs in exchange for Olympic participation. The only reason they're not going this time is so they can collectively bargain it in three years.
As an aside, I'd still like to see a Team World vs Team Canada 7-game series. No one country is able to match Canada at this point - I'd like to see this group given a proper challenge.
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