Fehr: Players won't bargain for right to play in Olympics

NHL players aren't interested in conceding anything for the chance to play in the 2018 Olympic Games.

"I don't know what it can be from the players' perspective,'' NHLPA executive director Donald Fehr told ESPN's Pierre LeBrun on Thursday.

"Obviously the players are not about to engage in collective bargaining in return for getting an opportunity to go to the Olympics for which they aren't being paid, where very valuable things would go elsewhere in return for that.''

Commissioner Gary Bettman said Tuesday that people should "assume we're not going," when asked about the league's potential Olympic participation in South Korea.

The players' union rejected an offer from the league in December that would have extended the existing collective bargaining agreement in exchange for Olympic participation.

Fehr said Thursday that what was essentially a two-year extension of the CBA wasn't of interest to the union.

Earlier this week, LeBrun reported no Olympic meetings were on the docket, and Fehr confirmed Thursday that there aren't any formal discussions planned in the immediate future.

"Not formally,'' Fehr said. "I talk to (IIHF president) Rene (Fasel) every so often about things, I'm sure Gary or (NHL deputy commissioner) Bill (Daly) does too. There are no meetings scheduled formally yet. Rene has been spending most of his time going to and from South Korea lately anyway. So, we'll see.''

Fehr said there's "no hard and fast deadline for a decision," and that the players would be ready to play if the NHL opts to attend.

"There may well be (a deadline) from the NHL in terms of scheduling and planning and there may be some from the IOC and the IIHF in terms of alerting the federations and if so, they'll make that plain," Fehr told LeBrun.

"But from our standpoint, our job is to keep working at it, and trying, and thinking, and urging, and pleading, and cajoling, and whatever else you do, until we're successful."