The NHL is heading back to the Olympic Games.

After months of negotiating, the league came to an agreement with the NHLPA, IIHF, and IOC to take part in the 2022 event in Beijing.

The arrangement was settled after a lengthy period of uncertainty during which NHL commissioner Gary Bettman and deputy commissioner Bill Daly both expressed concern on separate occasions that a deal may not get done.

"I know that I can speak for hockey fans around the world when I say that we absolutely welcome the decision to bring back best-on-best ice hockey to the Olympics," IIHF President Rene Fasel said. "We had many constructive discussions, and a lot of hard work was put into making this happen within the time we set out for ourselves, and I want to thank all parties involved for their support and commitment."

The NHL and NHLPA can pull out of the Olympics if COVID-19 conditions worsen or if cancellations disrupt the regular-season schedule, according to a memo sent out to the players. The reported opt-out deadline is set for early January, ESPN’s Emily Kaplan reports.

Players themselves have the right to decline to go to the Olympics at any time without consequence. There is no insurance for COVID-related illnesses.

After participating in the 2014 Games in Sochi, Russia, the league could not reach an agreement in time for the 2018 event in PyeongChang, South Korea.

The Olympic Athletes from Russia captured gold in 2018, with Germany settling for silver and Canada claiming bronze. In 2014, Canada secured the gold, Sweden took home silver, and Finland nabbed bronze.

The 2022 Games run from Feb. 9 to Feb. 20.

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The Arizona Coyotes are eyeing a Phoenix suburb as a potential site for their new home.

Two weeks after the city of Glendale told the Coyotes the upcoming season would be their last at Gila River Arena, the team submitted a bid to build an arena in nearby Tempe.

"We remain incredibly excited about this extraordinary opportunity," the club said in a statement the Arizona Republic's Paulina Pineda obtained. The Coyotes confirmed the proposal but declined further comment, according to Pineda.

The site is a 46-acre plot near Tempe Town Lake. The city took other bids as well and required submissions by 3 p.m. PT. Thursday. A committee of city staffers will now review the proposals and make a recommendation to city council, which can then approve or reject it.

The Coyotes and the city of Tempe have reportedly been negotiating for at least two years.

Glendale informed the club in mid-August it wouldn't renew the operating agreement for the city-owned Gila River Arena. That pact expires at the end of the 2021-22 NHL campaign.

The Coyotes have played at their current facility since 2003-04.

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NHL clubs will be able to ban players who decline to get vaccinated if they can't take part in team activities, reports Sportsnet's Elliotte Friedman.

That includes if an unvaccinated player isn't allowed to travel due to regulations in a jurisdiction, according to Friedman. A player would be docked one day's salary for each day he's unable to be with his team.

Medical reasons and "sincerely held" religious beliefs are reportedly among the exceptions to the policy.

Players who want to opt out of the upcoming season can do so by Oct. 1 if they're unvaccinated or can prove an immediate family member in the same household is at high risk of becoming severely ill if they contract the virus. The club will then get 30 days to determine whether to roll the player's contract over to next season or strike 2021-22 from the pact.

A player who opts out can't play in another league or the Olympics.

Testing will continue this season, and fully vaccinated players will undergo PCR exams at least every three days, while unvaccinated players will be tested every day. The NHL will treat any fully vaccinated player's positive COVID-19 test as a hockey-related injury in accordance with the league's CBA.

Unvaccinated players will essentially live in a bubble, according to Friedman. They won't be allowed into "internal venues" on the road aside from the arena, practice rink, and team hotel. They also won't be permitted to use shared facilities at the hotel or host visitors in their hotel room other than fully vaccinated family members. Unvaccinated players also aren't allowed to eat or drink at establishments that are open to the public.

Fully vaccinated and masked media members will be able to interview players in dressing rooms, according to The Athletic's Michael Russo.

It's estimated that 95% of NHL players are fully vaccinated, an increase of about 10% from mid-August, a source told Russo.

Numerous businesses and leagues have recently implemented vaccination policies while many areas of North America struggle to contain the Delta variant of the coronavirus. The NBA will reportedly require players to be vaccinated in places where mandates are already in place, and all NBA referees must be vaccinated.

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New Boston Bruins forward Nick Foligno will think about his short-lived stint with the Toronto Maple Leafs for a long time.

"My biggest disappointment was we didn't get the job done, and I unfortunately got hurt. That'll sit with me. Regardless of what Leafs fans think of me, I'm way harder on myself," Foligno said on Sportsnet 590 The FAN's "Good Show" with JD Bunkis.

"The fact that I couldn't perform to the abilities that I felt like I was early on killed me inside. It's something I'll regret forever."

The Leafs acquired Foligno just before the trade deadline in a three-way deal with the San Jose Sharks and Columbus Blue Jackets. Toronto had to cough up a 2021 first-round pick and a 2022 fourth-round selection to obtain the veteran's services.

Foligno played seven regular-season games with the Leafs leading up to the postseason and missed some time due to an upper-body injury. The 33-year-old struggled to stay healthy and sat out three of the team's playoff games against the Montreal Canadiens.

"I was unfortunately dealing with a really bad back injury that was debilitating. There was nerve pain, it shut down my whole right leg," he said. "Anything else you can play through a lot of the time. This, I couldn't. I tried."

Foligno, who's claimed he likes playing a physical game and isn't afraid of some "hard minutes," found himself in a tricky position.

"Trying not to hurt the team instead of trying to help the team, that's what it felt like. That bothered me a lot as a player," Foligno said.

Even though his time with the franchise didn't go the way he wanted, Foligno enjoyed his time in Toronto, including his Game 1 fight with Corey Perry.

"I'd do anything for those guys. The way they embraced me when I got there, I have nothing but great things to say about that team. That's why I think it stung so much … that's a group that really felt like they were ready," he reflected.

With his brief Leafs tenure behind him, Foligno is ready to get rolling as a Bruin.

"I am really thrilled at the opportunity Boston's given me to now join a team that I have a lot of respect for and obviously hated playing against all these years. Looking forward to playing with them," Foligno said.

The left-winger signed a two-year, $7.6 million contract with Boston as an unrestricted free agent in July.

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The OHL suspended controversial Montreal Canadiens draft pick Logan Mailloux indefinitely after he violated "the expectation of the appropriate conduct of an OHL player," commissioner David Branch announced Thursday.

Mailloux was charged and fined in Sweden in November 2020 for invasion of privacy and defamation after taking a photo of a woman without consent during a sexual encounter and distributing it. The OHL cites the incident as the reason for the suspension.

The London Knights player will have the opportunity to apply for reinstatement on or after Jan. 1, 2022. Whether or not Mailloux is reinstated will depend on his conduct since his return to Canada, as well as any treatment and education he receives.

Montreal selected Mailloux with the 31st pick in this year's draft. Three days prior, Mailloux put out a statement asking teams not to draft him because he hadn't done enough to "earn that privilege."

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The Philadelphia Flyers have signed forward Joel Farabee to a six-year extension with an annual cap hit of $5 million, the team announced Thursday.

Farabee had one more year left on his entry-level contract and was set to become a restricted free agent at the end of the 2021-22 campaign.

The 21-year-old was a bright light for the Flyers in a less-than-impressive 2020-21 season, leading Philadelphia in scoring with 20 goals.

"I think I came off a pretty good year last year so definitely wanted to get things rolling, and I'm glad both sides came to an agreement," Farabee said, according to NHL.com's Adam Kimelman. "I'm really excited to be in Philly for the next seven years after my last year on my ELC."

The left-winger saw a major uptick in production during his sophomore campaign. After mustering eight goals and 21 points in 52 games as a rookie in 2019-20, he responded with a total of 38 points in 55 contests this past season.

Farabee was rewarded for his efforts with the 2020-21 Pelle Lindbergh Memorial Trophy as the Flyers' most improved player.

After being drafted 14th overall in 2018, Farabee made his NHL debut on Oct. 21, 2019, becoming the first player born in the 2000s to appear in a game for Philly.

Farabee is now under contract with the Flyers through the 2027-28 season.

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With three Stanley Cup championships, six All-Star appearances, and 863 NHL games under his belt (plus a whopping 142 playoff contests), Pittsburgh Penguins defenseman Kris Letang has pretty much seen and done it all.

Well, not quite. There's still one more thing the 34-year-old covets.

"Four," Letang said, according to Mike DeFabo of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, referring to the Stanley Cup.

"It doesn't matter how many years I'm going to keep doing this," he added. "I just want to do it for one reason - that's to win every year."

Entering the final year of an eight-year deal that carries an average annual value of $7.25 million, Letang's feeling confident in a 2021-22 Pittsburgh team that held on to much of its core.

"I feel comfortable saying we have what we need to be successful, whether on the coaching staff or player-wise," Letang said. "We have the group to do it."

The right-handed shot has spent his NHL career with "brothers" Evgeni Malkin and Sidney Crosby and "of course" he'd certainly like to keep it that way.

"You hear about those guys who decide to go with another team trying to look for another Cup or bigger salaries," Letang said. "The thing we built in Pittsburgh with Sid and Geno, I think it's special. Obviously, there's always an end to an era. I cannot predict when it's going to be done."

For now, things are looking good for the Penguins; Pittsburgh has made the playoffs in 15 straight seasons and finished at the top of the realigned East Division in 2020-21. However, the squad hasn't advanced past the second round of the postseason since winning the Cup in 2016-17.

“At the end of the day, guys who have been together for 15-20 years - whatever it ends up being - is going to be on the small scale of the longevity of a franchise. You have to think about all the other years and you want to keep winning," Letang said.

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The Buffalo Sabres re-signed restricted free-agent forward Casey Mittelstadt to a three-year deal with an average annual value of $2.5 million, the team announced Thursday.

Mittelstadt is coming off the most productive season of his young career. After spending the beginning of the 2020-21 campaign on the taxi squad, he thrived under new head coach Don Granato, who replaced the fired Ralph Krueger in March. Mittelstadt tallied 17 points in the final 22 games after returning to the center position and seeing matchups against the opponent's top lines.

"I think a lot of guys, including myself, owe (Granato) quite a bit," Mittelstadt said. "He challenged me when he took over and pushed me to become a better player. I think it's that simple. A lot of the strides I made are partly because of him pushing me or had a lot to do with him pushing me."

The Sabres selected Mittelstadt eighth overall in the 2017 draft. The 22-year-old has 61 points in 155 career games.

Buffalo still has two other restricted free agents to deal with in defensemen Rasmus Dahlin and Henri Jokiharju.

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