Could NHL Players Drop Out of 2026 Olympics? Latest Rumors on Winter Games

There are "no indications" the NHL plans to pull players out of the 2026 Milan Cortina Olympics despite concerns that rink sizes won't match league standards, ESPN's Emily Kaplan reported Wednesday.

NHL rules require that each rink measures 200 feet long by 85 feet wide.

The Athletic's Chris Johnston and Michael Russo reported Tuesday that the International Ice Hockey Federation had approved a rink in Milan that is 85.3 feet wide but just 196.85 feet long, more than three feet shorter than the NHL standard.

Kaplan noted that the agreement the NHL and NHLPA signed with IIHF ahead of the 2026 Winter Games "clearly states that the ice in Milan must be built to NHL standards."

Construction is still ongoing on the main arena, Kaplan noted. She added that the NHL has "no control" over construction, but that the league "is still committed to making it work."

The men's Olympic hockey tournament is set to begin on Feb. 11, 2026.

Women's hockey players will begin their competition earlier with a preliminary round beginning Feb. 5.

That's a concern given the construction delays at Santagiulia Ice Hockey Arena, which was set to host a test event in early December that has since been delayed until Jan. 9-11.

According to NHL insider Frank Seravalli, the arena didn't have a roof as recently as Oct. 31.

Milan Cortina local organizing committee CEO Andrea Varnier told the Associated Press' Andrew Dampf in October that the opening of the arena would be "very close to the start of the games."

In an update recently provided to the AP's Daniella Matar, chief games operations officer Andrea Francisi said there was "no plan B" should the arena not be constructed in time.

Sportsnet's Elliotte Friedman reported on Nov. 22 that the NHL and NHLPA had given the International Olympic Committee a one-month deadline "to show progress with the rink."

According to Kaplan, the NHL sent representatives to Milan in November to check on the rink.

"The main takeaway was that organizers were making progress but needed to speed things up," Kaplan wrote.

Team Canada assistant coach Peter DeBoer raised more concerns about the arena in a Monday appearance on the Real Kyper & Bourne show, during which he said the rink "looks like it's going to be smaller than NHL rink standards, by probably three or four feet."

"I don't understand how that happened," DeBoer said.

According to Kaplan, the NHL sees the potentially different rink size as "not ideal" but "does not view it as a concern in terms of safety."

Kaplan noted that the NHL recently held two regular-season games on a rink with irregular dimensions when the Pittsburgh Penguins and Nashville Predators faced off in November at Avicii Arena in Stockholm.

According to Kaplan, the NHL adjusted lines in the neutral zone but kept both offensive zones the same in order to account for the change.

Should the league make similar adjustments in Milan, players could potentially be skating through a shorter neutral zone when the Olympics kick off this February.