NHL players are officially set to return to the Winter Olympics.

The NHL, NHL Players' Association and International Ice Hockey Federation struck an agreement on Friday allowing players to compete in the 2026 and 2030 Winter Games.

NHL commissioner Gary Bettman said in a statement:

"The international composition of National Hockey League rosters is unparalleled, and NHL Players take great pride in representing their countries. We are pleased that today, after intense collaborative efforts with the NHL Players' Association and the International Ice Hockey Federation, we can formally announce that NHL Players will participate in both the 2026 and 2030 Olympic hockey tournaments."   

The 2026 Winter Games, which will be held in Milan and Cortina d'Ampezzo, Italy, will mark the first time the NHL has sent players to the Olympics since the 2014 Games in Sochi when Canada won the gold medal.

The host for the 2030 Olympics hasn't yet been named, though France is considered the frontrunner with a formal announcement expected in July.

The NHL enjoyed a run of participating in five straight Olympics from 1998 to 2014. Players were interested in participating in the 2018 PyeongChang Games, but no deal was reached amid concerns over marketing, insurance, travel costs and player injuries.

Players were initially set to compete in the 2022 Beijing Games, but the COVID-19 pandemic ruined those plans.

Without the NHL's participation in the 2018 and 2022 Olympics, USA Hockey and Hockey Canada assembled rosters that included college players, minor leaguers and players competing for international clubs.

The latest agreement paves the way for some of the league's biggest stars to suit up on the biggest stage, including the likes of Canadian Connor McDavid and American Auston Matthews.

"We know that hockey fans worldwide have long been anticipating the next best-on-best international competition, and now they can finally see some of their favorite players represent their countries and line up together," said NHLPA executive director Marty Walsh.

The NHL will not cover costs to send players to the 2026 Olympics. That responsibility falls on the IIHF, the national federations and Olympic committees of each participating country.

Nine countries have already qualified for the 2026 Games due to their place in the IIHF World Rankings—United States, Canada, Finland, Russia, Germany, Sweden, Switzerland, Czechia and Italy, the host country.

Three more spots are up for grabs, and those will be determined through four rounds of qualification that begin on Feb. 8.