Marty Walsh, appointed as NHLPA executive director in February, said he wanted NHL players to compete at Milan Cortina 2026 ©Getty Images

National Hockey League Players' Association (NHLPA) executive director Marty Walsh has stressed his determination to ensure participation at the 2026 Winter Olympics in Milan and Cortina d'Ampezzo.

Speaking to ESPN, Walsh revealed that he was in talks with National Hockey League (NHL) commissioner Gary Bettman and the International Ice Hockey Federation (IIHF) in a bid to secure an agreement for players from the league to star at Milan Cortina 2026.

Should a deal to be reached, NHL players will be allowed to compete at the Winter Olympics for the first time since Sochi 2014.

They did not participate at Pyeongchang 2018 after the International Olympic Committee refused to pay for travel and insurance costs as it did on five previous occasions.

An agreement had been made for NHL players to feature at Beijing 2022 only for a COVID-19 stipulation to be inserted which meant that they were unable to travel to the Chinese capital if the league season was "materially impacted" by the pandemic.

Players from the NHL have not taken part in the Winter Olympics since Sochi 2014 ©Getty Images
Players from the NHL have not taken part in the Winter Olympics since Sochi 2014 ©Getty Images

Having being represented from Nagano 1998 to Sochi 2014, Walsh revealed he was working to ensure NHL players would be able to return to the Winter Olympics at Milan Cortina 2026.

"My focus is to try and make that happen," said Walsh.

"I’m working with commissioner Gary Bettman, collectively together with the IIHF, and hopefully, we’ll be able to come up with an agreement and move forward.

"A lot of players from around the globe want to play for their home country.

"They want that best-on-best tournament.

"They want to be part of it."

Players from the NHL were denied the chance to participate at Beijing 2022 due to the disruption of the COVID-19 pandemic ©Getty Images
Players from the NHL were denied the chance to participate at Beijing 2022 due to the disruption of the COVID-19 pandemic ©Getty Images

Walsh was appointed as executive director of the NHLPA in February, succeeding Donald Fehr who had held the position since 2010.

He was the United States’ Secretary of Labor for two years until March 2023 and served as Mayor of Boston between 2014 and 2021.

Speaking in February, Bettman warned the IIHF that "certain things are going to have to be done" to ensure its players compete at Milan Cortina 2026.

Bettman claimed that he and IIHF President Luc Tardif had "re-expressed our desires to work together on a variety of fronts" but insisted that the NHL’s requirements must be met for players to participate at the Games in three years’ time.