Since 2023, the International Olympic Committee has suspended the Russian Olympic Comittee, which has barred their athletes from participating. On Tuesday, the IOC lifted the suspension, which paves the way for Russian participation, under their own flag, in the 2030 Summer and Winter Olympics. That could mean NHL players like Nikita Kucherov and Andrei Vasilevskiy can represent their county in a true best-on-best international tournament.
There are still some hurdles for the players to clear. For one, the IIHF, which governs participation in international tournaments still hasn’t reinstated Russia. In May, they did change their official blanket ban on participation to an “event-by-event basis” with security and safety as determining factors. The two governing bodies work independently of each other but do take cues from each other.
The IOC also mentioned that they will continue to monitor the ROC to make sure they are abiding by their agreement to not encroach on any territories that are in the jurisdiction of the National Olympic Committee of Ukraine. They will also be hyper-focused on making sure any and all anti-doping rules are followed by Russian athletes. The use of the Russian anthem or displaying of the flag will be determined at a future date.
While it’s not the final step, it is a big step for Russian hockey players to be included in the 2030 games, which will take place from February 1 through 17, 2030 in the French Alps.
Hockey News
Last year’s heartbreak may bode well for Lightning [Tampa Bay Times]
Look at John Romano being all positive and stuff. Gotta love it. The TBT columnist does make some solid points. Last year’s team was a good, solid team with a couple of holes in it. In his opinion, the moves that the Bolts made over the last couple of weeks have reinforced their belief in the roster, and while the moves haven’t been splashy, they also haven’t committed the team to a lot of big-money, long-term contracts.
Claude Giroux signs in Ottawa [Silver Seven Sens]
The veteran forward opted against moving all of his stuff and will stay with the Senators after signing a one-year deal that has a $2 million dollar cap hit. Like other older players this summer, it is an incentive-laden deal that carries a bonus for playing in 10 games ($1.5 million), and $500,000 bonuses for playing 40 games, reaching the Stanley Cup Final, and winning the Stanley Cup.
Best remaining unrestricted free agents [Daily FaceOff]
While the Lightning are likely out of the big-time free agent market, it’s always fun to see who is still lingering out there without a contract. Giroux was third on this list (first published on 7/6), which features five players 37 years-old or older. All of the players have some sort of question mark associated with them, be it age, health, or roster fit, but it is somewhat surprising to see Logan Stanley and Eeli Tolvanen still unsigned.
Dylan Larkin has not expanded his destination wish list [Helene St. James Twitter]
A few names on that UFA list might be waiting to see what happens with the Detroit captain, who has stated a desire to be traded. While there has been some speculation about what teams he would be willing to accept a trade to, it seems he hasn’t given his general manager an expanded list as of yet. Vegas, Minnesota, and Florida are the confirmed teams, and with Vegas and Florida currently Capmaxxing, the handcuffs continue to be quite tight on Steve Yzerman.
NHL to announce schedules on July 15 [NHL Media]
Get your calendars ready and start planning your road trips. The NHL will announce the schedule next week. Each team gets to play 84 games next season and math tells us that is a total of 1,344 for the entire league.
With the Leo Carlsson drama still ongoing, it seems like a good time to remind everyone that this isn’t the first time the Philadelphia has fired off a somewhat surprising offer sheet. For those that weren’t around back then, or have chosen to forget, here is our post from a few years ago about the Chris Gratton saga. Not only does it involve the Flyers, but also Rod Brind’Amour and, to an extent, Jacob Markstrom, both currently in the news!
