The NHL, NHLPA and international officials on Wednesday finalized a long-ago agreed-to deal to send players to the 2026 Milan-Cortina Olympics.

The league, union, International Ice Hockey Federation and International Olympic Committee confirmed the participation of NHL players at the games for the first time since 2014. The groups negotiated the agreement and announced it initially last year.

IIHF president Luc Tardif called it “a major step forward for our sport.”

The final touches took time to figure out after officials insisted for months they were not concerned about the lack of a signed document. The deal opens the door for NHL participation to continue in 2030, something that had also been agreed to in February 2024.

Last month, the 12 participating countries unveiled the first six players on their Olympic rosters. The men’s hockey tournament at the 2026 Games is scheduled to run from Feb. 11-22.

Kings add players

The Kings have signed four players to two-way contracts, the team announced in a news release Wednesday, a day after the opening of free agency.

Defenseman Samuel Bolduc joined forwards Logan Brown, Cole Guttman and Taylor Ward among those inking new pacts. Ward, 27, re-signed after spending all or part of the past four seasons with the Ontario Reign of the American Hockey League, where he’ll ply his trade for at least one more year now.

Bolduc is a 6-foot-4, 225-pound left defenseman with 52 games of NHL experience, including one last season. The 24-year-old effectively replaced Caleb Jones, another NHL-AHL tweener, after he signed with the Pittsburgh Penguins. Bolduc spent his entire career in the New York Islanders’ system, including last season, which he spent mostly with their AHL affiliate in Bridgeport. He, like Brown and Ward, agreed to a one-year deal.

Guttman, 26, is a University of Denver product and won an NCAA championship with the Pioneers. Though he was a draft pick of the Tampa Bay Lightning, he’s played his entire career in the Chicago Blackhawks organization. He has 14 points in 41 NHL games with Chicago, but spent all of last season on the North Side with the Blackhawks’ affiliate in Rockford. He signed a two-year deal with the Kings.

Brown, 27, was once a lottery pick, drafted 11th overall in 2016 by the Ottawa Senators ahead of the likes of Boston’s Charlie McAvoy and Washington’s Jakob Chychrun. Brown has 99 games of NHL experience between stretches with the Senators and St. Louis Blues.

He missed the entire 2023-24 season after undergoing hip surgery. Last season, he rebounded with his best AHL campaign to date, putting up 29 points in 33 games for Tampa Bay’s affiliate in Syracuse.

— Andrew Knoll

EHLERS UNSIGNED

Nikolaj Ehlers remains unsigned 30 hours into NHL free agency, as the top player available weighed his options Wednesday and suitors awaited his decision that could be one of the final big moves of the offseason.

Carolina, Tampa Bay and Washington were considered among the teams interested in pursuing the 29-year-old from Denmark who played his first nine seasons with Winnipeg.