Bill Daly: 2022 China Games 'certainly a possibility' for NHL

With PyeongChang 2018 now in the history books, the conversation in regards to NHL player participation at the 2022 Winter Olympics in China begins.

Deputy commissioner Bill Daly is leaving the door open for NHL talent to be featured next time around after sitting out the recent tournament.

"I’m not making any news today, (but) I will say certainly it’s a possibility,” Daly said while speaking at SXSW in Austin, TX, per The Associated Press. "We have (a couple) of years to kind of make that decision."

There's plenty of factors to be weighed out, he added.

"In South Korea, we felt ultimately there were a lot more negatives than positives than going," Daly said. "I expect we’ll go through the exact same process (before 2022) ... There may be more positives to participating in Beijing."

China, of course, is the world's most populous country, with close to 1.4-billion people and is a relatively untapped market from a hockey perspective.

The current collective bargaining agreement between the NHL and its players will expire later in 2022, but either side can choose to opt out in 2019. The Olympics will certainly be a point of contention next time around, helping to resolve this issue one way or another.