NHL players are returning to the Olympics for the first time in more than a decade.

The world’s top hockey league will allow its players to participate in the Games in 2026 in Milan and in 2030 under an agreement announced Friday by the NHL, the NHL Players’ Association, International Ice Hockey Federation and the IOC.

NHL players have not been at the Olympics since 2014 in Sochi.

“There is a recognition of how important this is to the players,” NHL Commissioner Gary Bettman said at a news conference during All-Star Weekend. “Everybody felt on our ownership side that it was the right thing to do. … This really came down to doing something because the players really wanted it.”

IIHF President Luc Tardif smiled and said, “We made it” after two years worth of work that picked up over the past six months.

“With all the uncertainty that’s been around it in years prior and just how great of an experience that it is, I think it’s just awesome news and I’m sure a lot of players are really happy,” Canada and Pittsburgh Penguins star Sidney Crosby said. “And especially to commit to two different Olympics, I think that’ll be great.”

Milan, barring another unforeseen circumstance like the pandemic that caused players to miss Beijing in 2022, will be the first Olympics for a generation of stars led by Canadians Connor McDavid, Nathan MacKinnon and Cale Makar and Americans Auston Matthews, Jack Eichel and Adam Fox. The tantalizing rosters could see the likes of McDavid, Crosby and Connor Bedard on the same team battling for gold.

“Extremely badly want to play in the Olympics,” McDavid said Thursday. “All these guys that haven’t had a chance to represent their country at a best on best, I think it’s something that we’re all hungry to do.”

The NHL paused its season for the Olympics five times from 1998 through 2014, and most of the players now in the league grew up expecting to play on that stage. Disagreements over who would pay for insurance and travel costs, the time difference between South Korea and North America were cited as factors in the NHL passing on Pyeongchang in 2018.

BRUINS: Former Bruins goalie Blaine Lacher died unexpectedly earlier this week at age 53.

Lacher, a collegiate standout at Lake Superior State, played parts of two seasons with the Bruins from 1994-96, compiling a 22-16-4 record. He last played professionally for the Grand Rapids Griffins of the IHL in the 1996-97 season.

“The Boston Bruins are deeply saddened by the passing of former goalie Blaine Lacher. We send our thoughts and condolences to his family, friends and teammates,” the club wrote on social media.

Lacher’s 19-11-2 run in his first year in Boston helped the Bruins make the playoffs in 1995.

Lacher also led Lake Superior State over Boston University in the NCAA title game in 1994. Lacher was also in net when Lake Superior State lost the University of Maine, 5-4, in the 1993 title game.

INVESTIGATION: The NHL will wait for the judicial process to play out before making any decisions about four players facing sexual assault charges in a 2018 case involving Canada’s world junior team that year, Bettman said.

Addressing the situation at All-Star Weekend days after the NHL players were charged by police in London, Ontario, with sexual assault, Bettman called the allegations “abhorrent, reprehensible, horrific and unacceptable.”

Carter Hart of the Philadelphia Flyers, Michael McLeod and Cal Foote of the New Jersey Devils, and Dillon Dube of the Calgary Flames are all on indefinite leave from their teams. Bettman said the league does not consider it necessary to suspend the players without pay for the rest of the season.

“At this stage, the most responsible and prudent thing for us to do is await the conclusion of the judicial proceedings, at which point we will respond as appropriate at the time,” Bettman said. “The fact that they’re away from their teams and not playing I’m comfortable with. They’ve been paid the vast bulk of their salary for the year anyway. We’re coming down to the stretch run of when compensation is paid to players. That’s not the concern. The concern is to get this right.”

Bettman pointed out that all four do not have contracts beyond this season, and it appears unlikely any of the teams involved would attempt to terminate a deal before then.

KINGS: Los Angeles fired coach Todd McLellan and named Jim Hiller the interim coach for the rest of the season.

Los Angeles went into the All-Star break with the first wild-card spot in the Western Conference, but only four points from falling out of a playoff spot.

The Kings had a 20-7-4 start to the season, with the 44 points tied for the most in team history after 31 games. Since Dec. 28, they have gone 3-8-6. The three wins are tied for fewest in the league in that span and the 12 points are tied for the fifth worst.

JETS-CANADIENS TRADE: Winnipeg acquired Sean Monahan in a trade with Montreal, giving one of the top Stanley Cup contenders in the Western Conference more depth at center for a potential playoff run.

Winnipeg sent its 2024 first-round pick and a conditional third-rounder in 2027 to Montreal for the pending free agent. The trade comes two days since the NHL-leading rival Vancouver Canucks acquired center Elias Lindholm from Calgary.