LOS ANGELES -- The hope from some NHL players is that it's just part of a negotiation. The hope is that the prospects of representing their countries in the 2018 Winter Olympics are better than the words of doom coming from commissioner Gary Bettman and deputy commissioner Bill Daly.
If you listen to those representing the NHL, the time has just about run out to find a suitable deal that will send the best hockey players in the world to Pyeongchang, South Korea, in 2018.
And if that's true, it's a serious problem to the biggest stars in the game.
Team Canada has won two consecutive Olympic gold medals and the World Cup. The core group of Sidney Crosby, Jonathan Toews and Shea Weber -- coached by Mike Babcock -- has an opportunity to win a third Olympic gold and lock down a place in hockey history as one of the greatest generations of competitors.
That opportunity is being threatened, and it's something Toews takes seriously.
"I don't think it's just about Canadians wanting to go to the Olympics. Every guy at the NHL level wants to represent their country at that level," Toews said. "If you ask me, I don't think you can compare it to the World Cup and World Championships. I think the Olympics are a whole other thing."
Toews was just getting warmed up. The passion was evident.
"Quite frankly, to turn on the Olympics next year and watch the hockey teams and the players representing their country -- if it's not the best in the world, I don't know, I feel like we're misrepresenting our sport on a pretty huge scale, on a pretty huge level," he said.
"A lot of the talk has been [that] it's just the players that are pushing for it, the players that are interested and want to go. I think the players do want to go, but I think it should be of interest to the players and the league."
The league's stance doesn't reflect that. Bettman said owners are concerned about shutting down the league at midseason with a limited payoff. Owners are worried about condensed schedules and damaging their product. He said the International Olympic Committee's decision not to pay the costs associated with bringing in NHL players has opened the debate again among owners, and the response hasn't been favorable.
The result is that this generation of Canadian hockey players might be prevented from making history.
Crosby, despite all the negativity coming from the league, is taking a more optimistic approach.
"You have to trust at the end of the day, everyone is going to work hard to make sure it can happen," Crosby said. "I try not to get caught up in every little bit of information that is released and where it's going. It can change quickly. We've seen it in the past, it can happen."
It would be a shame for the Olympics gold medals of these great players to be defended by players who aren't the ones who earned them in the first place.
Nine other takeaways from NHL All-Star Weekend:
2. All-Star Game in Vegas?
The small positive that might emerge from the NHL players skipping the Olympics would be the possibility of an All-Star Game in Las Vegas in 2018. The NHL needs a decision to be made soon regarding the Olympics, in part because it needs to schedule its events for next season, including the All-Star Game.
Over the weekend, Bettman hinted that Las Vegas was on the short list to land an All-Star Game in the not-too-distant future.
"We think it would be a good idea to have an All-Star Game at some point in Las Vegas," Bettman said. "We didn't commit on a date, but I think our intention is at some point in the earlier days of the [Vegas Golden Knights] franchise, as opposed to 20 or 30 years down the road."
When relayed that news, Minnesota Wild coach Bruce Boudreau laughed. The players and everyone else had a great time in Los Angeles; it could get crazy in Vegas.
"I can only imagine the Vegas All-Star Game," Boudreau said, laughing. "I don't even want to comment. I'm sure the players would have some fun there."
3. How the Golden Knights will be assembled
On Saturday, Daly gave the owners an update on the Las Vegas franchise. The expectation is that the expansion franchise transaction will close around March 1, and then Golden Knights general manager George McPhee will have the ability to make player-related moves. Right now, McPhee can't make trades or sign players, but the expectation is he will around that date, within certain parameters.
"Obviously, you can't acquire players who are still playing the 2016-17 season, but he can acquire draft picks ... sign draft choices, he can start making deals related to the expansion draft," Daly said.
McPhee is expected to be a major player in the college free-agency market, with the ability to offer immediate playing time next season being a big sell.
4. Watch out for the Lightning?
The Tampa Bay Lightning players competing in the All-Star Game were using the weekend as a chance to hit the reset button after a rough first half of the season. Tampa Bay has the talent to be a Stanley Cup contender but right now, the Lightning are six points outside a playoff spot.
Still, you could sense confidence from both Nikita Kucherov and Victor Hedman that the Lightning were going to make a push.
"We still believe in ourselves," Kucherov said. "If we win a couple games, we're going to be on top again."
5. Stars could be dangerous as well
The Dallas Stars are in a similar position in the West. They've been crushed by injuries and there are players on that roster who would interest general managers trying to add veteran help for the playoff run.
Tyler Seguin said the talk among his teammates is that they're capable of making a run that would prevent any temptation from GM Jim Nill to be a seller at the deadline.
"I love every one of my teammates and I don't want to see any of them go," Seguin said. "I get how on the outside you could see we have some rentals. Hopefully, we can keep them all because we're going to need them."
6. Latest on potential Hurricanes sale
ESPN teammate Pierre LeBrun caught Carolina owner Peter Karmanos in a moment of honesty when Karmanos let him know that he planned on selling the Hurricanes after this season. Until then, the belief was that Karmanos only intended to sell a portion of the team, but it sounds like that plan has changed.
"There's nothing that's been decided," said Bettman, when relayed Karmanos' comments.
A possible Carolina sale immediately sent shockwaves up to Quebec City, where there's a beautiful rink just waiting for an NHL team, but Bettman didn't leave any gray area when he said the Hurricanes aren't going anywhere right now.
"The club isn't moving," Bettman said. "Peter may sell, he may not sell. He may sell all of it, he may sell some of it. He may sell none of it. There's no formal sale process going on."
The preference will be a local buyer in Raleigh, but there are people around hockey who are skeptical that such a potential owner exists. The most likely scenario is an out-of-town owner buying the Hurricanes.
7. Eichel's place among game's young stars
All-Star Weekend ended up being a mix of celebrating the history of the league along with the future, with Edmonton's Connor McDavid, Winnipeg's Patrik Laine and Toronto's Auston Matthews sharing the big stage with hockey legends.
Buffalo's Jack Eichel used to be mentioned with that group, but his absence has moved him further out of that spotlight. He actually has been quite productive since returning from his ankle injury and teammate Kyle Okposo believes he'll return to that stratosphere of young stars.
"Jack is a special player. He's extremely talented. He's only going to continue to get better," Okposo said. "When he's really feeling it, he can just take over a game. That's something not a lot of players can do -- not even some of the best players can do it -- but you really have to get to that elite status where you can impact and dominate a game the way he can."
8. Okposo on Tavares
Seeing Okposo and fellow former Islander Frans Nielsen compete against their former teammate John Tavares in the All-Star Game was a reminder of just how much talent left the Islanders this offseason.
Tavares had to answer questions about if he'll be the next star to leave the Islanders, and speculation over his future is only going to get louder as he moves closer to the expiration of his contract in 2018. This is going to be Steven Stamkos 2.0, but Okposo sees his former teammate handling it just fine.
"He'll handle it like himself, like a pro. He's the ultimate professional," Okposo said. "Only he knows what he wants to do and what he's thinking. He's going to make the right decision for himself, his future and his family. I know he's an extremely loyal guy; you just have to wait and see."
9. Nielsen on Tavares
Nielsen felt similarly about the Tavares situation. Nielsen's Red Wings were hopeful they'd get a crack at Stamkos, and would be part of the long list of teams that make a push for Tavares if he ever gets to free agency.
Nielsen thinks the Islanders have a good shot at keeping Tavares, as long as he's convinced he can win a Stanley Cup there. They don't look particularly close right now.
"He's a competitor. He wants to win," Nielsen said. "To me, I don't see [it] being too much about the money for him. He wants to win. If he feels like they have the talent and can make it happen there at some point and he believes that, he wouldn't mind staying there. ... All he wants to do is win."
10. Tavares on Tavares
Tavares wants to win and also made it clear that he doesn't necessarily want any input or say in the direction the Islanders head as they make decisions about their franchise moving forward.
"You trust the structure of the organization and management to handle all decisions they make, to have the desire and belief to compete and win the Stanley Cup," Tavares said. "As a player that's all you want to see is the commitment to wanting to win and win a Stanley Cup."