Quarantine concerns loom over NHL’s participation in Winter Olympics

NHL MVP Connor McDavid calls the idea of potentially having to quarantine for up to five weeks in China following a positive COVID-19 test “unsettling” as the NHL’s participation at the 2022 Winter Games remains up in the air.

The Edmonton captain and one of three players already named to Canada’s provisional Olympic team spoke Tuesday as coronavirus cases and postponements continue to rise across the league.

“It’s obviously going to be a very fluid situation,” McDavid said before Edmonton hosted the Toronto Maple Leafs. “There hasn’t been a ton of information come out, and then there’s that three-to-five week [quarantine] thing ... it’s kind of been floating around. Obviously, it’s unsettling if that were to be the case when you go over there.”

The NHL skipped the 2018 Olympics in South Korea, but committed to Beijing as part of the extension to the current collective bargaining agreement signed with NHL Players’ Association. As recently as last week, Commissioner Gary Bettman said the plan was to go, but the NHL has until Jan. 10 to nix the plan without financial penalty if COVID-19 causes enough of a disruption to its season.

“I’m still a guy that’s wanting to go play in the Olympics,” McDavid said, according to the Canadian Press. “But we also want to make sure it’s safe for everybody. For all the athletes, not just for hockey players.”

The International Olympic Committee has said an athlete who tests positive for COVID-19 in China will need to produce two negative results 24 hours apart. If they’re unable to do so, the quarantine period could last from three to five weeks.