It seemed as if everything was settled. N.H.L. players were returning to the Olympic men’s hockey tournament after missing the last Winter Games. Now, in part because of escalating Covid-19 cases across the league, there is more instability. Here are the answers to the outstanding questions, at least as far as we know; there is still a lot of uncertainty.
As of now, yes. The league and its Players’ Association struck a deal in September that allowed the stars to head to Beijing for the Games in February while the league is shut down for three weeks.