Draisaitl's dream draws closer: NHL stars on the verge of an Olympic return
National coach Harold Kreis seemed extremely satisfied. It wasn't just the ice hockey runners-up's 4:1 opening victory over the Danish team at the Deutschland Cup in Landshut on Thursday evening that put everyone in a good mood. Kreis will in all likelihood be able to field his entire star ensemble around Leon Draisaitl at the 2026 Olympics. The world-class forward's dream of finally playing with all NHL players in the national team again is becoming more and more likely.
World federation president Luc Tardif confirmed an imminent agreement between the IIHF and the North American professional league NHL at Magentasport. At the Winter Games in Milan and Cortina d'Ampezzo in just over two years' time, the NHL pros should finally be able to take part again.
"The NHL players have said of their own accord that they would like to come. That would be a huge boost for German ice hockey, but also for ice hockey as a whole," enthused Kreis. His team has already qualified for the Olympics.
In 2018 in Pyeongchang, South Korea, the NHL stars were missing because there was no agreement between the world association and the professional league. Four years later, the top stars around Draisaitl's Edmonton team-mate Connor McDavid were absent in Beijing because the coronavirus caused disruption to the schedule in North America with numerous cancellations. In addition to Draisaitl, there are other outstanding German professionals in North America in Tim Stützle, Moritz Seider, JJ Peterka, Nico Sturm and Philipp Grubauer.
In Landshut, however, Kreis will not only have to do without the NHL players, but also numerous key players. That's why the 4:1 start with a mixture of less established players and several newcomers or returnees made the coach happy. "The guys fought for 60 minutes. I liked that," said the national coach. The number of candidates for the national team has now grown to between 40 and 60 players. "I could have nominated two teams," said the coach.
With the potential NHL return to the Olympics, DEB coach Harold Kreis is excited to have Leon Draisaitl and other NHL stars like Connor McDavid in his team for the 2026 Games in Milan and Cortina d'Ampezzo. Despite the absence of key players in Landshut for the Deutschland Cup, Draisaitl's dream of playing with NHL pros in the national team is drawing closer.
Source: www.dpa.com
