NHL players won't be headed to the 2018 Winter Olympics in Pyeongchang, but their fate has yet to be decided for the 2022 Games in Beijing.

In April, the NHL announced it would not participate in the 2018 Games after unsuccessful negotiations with the IIHF and International Olympic Committee.

Still, it's no secret the league is intrigued by the Chinese market. Earlier this season, the Los Angeles Kings and Vancouver Canucks faced off in a pair of exhibition contests in Beijing and Shanghai as part of the NHL China Games.

Attending the 2022 Olympics in Beijing would help the NHL build on these international efforts.

"Each Olympics is different. There's a different value proposition," NHL deputy commissioner Bill Daly told Kevin McGran of the Toronto Star. "These particular Olympics that are coming up, ultimately the negatives outweighed the positives for our owners.

"I don't know what Beijing will hold. The logistical issues that we have with South Korea will be the same with China, but maybe there are some other opportunities in China that aren't in South Korea. We will see."

The NHL previously participated in the past five Winter Olympics, beginning in Nagano, Japan in 1998.

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