As the National Hockey League and its players association try to figure out a deal that would allow players to participate in the 2018 Olympics in Pyeongchang, South Korea, there may be no more interested party than Brad Marchand.

The Bruins winger is in the prime of his career. He has won titles in the World Junior Championships, the Stanley Cup finals and most recently with Team Canada in the World Cup of Hockey, where he demonstrated he clearly belonged among the game’s elite.

The only team goal he’s yet to accomplish is to play in the Olympics for a shot at having a gold medal draped around his neck. Since he returned from the World Cup, he’s had that in the back of his mind.

“The Olympics is the highest caliber of hockey you can play,” Marchand said. “You’re playing against the best in the world, you’re playing for your country and that’s something I think everyone would love the opportunity to have, regardless of where you’re from and what country you represent.

“The (NHL) players should have that opportunity. We’ve all worked hard enough to get ourselves in the NHL and to be the best caliber players in the world. And you look at the fans. They’re the ones who want to see the highest form of play, and the Olympics wouldn’t be the same without the NHL in it. They know that. We know that. So if they want to take that away from all the fans, there’ll be a lot of disappointed people.”

Depending on what you want to believe, the NHL does not want to see its players participate in the Olympics again because of the costs of shutting down the league midseason for three weeks as well as the potential for injuries to stars. But reportedly, the league is willing to overlook those concerns if the union is willing to re-up the current CBA for another three years, through 2025.

Even Marchand, who desperately wants to go the Games, said it’s not that simple. While Marchand didn’t mention any issue specifically, it is widely known that the players want their escrow requirements to come down. They currently pay 15 percent of their salary into escrow, which the league can draw upon at season’s end if it ends up with less than its negotiated 43 percent share of gross revenues.

“If we can make it work on both sides I can’t see why we’d be opposed to it,” Marchand said of extending the CBA. “But we can’t just sign it. There are things that need to be changed.”

While South Korea might not present a huge potential for growth, the 2022 Games are in Beijing, where the game is starting to take hold and presents a potential boon to the NHL. The Bruins already have a partnership with Chinese packaging company O.R.G. If the league doesn’t go to Pyeongchang in 2018, there’s always the chance the IOC would say “thanks, but no thanks” when it comes to the China Games.

While Marchand has a personal investment in this one, he thinks it’s for the good of the game for NHL players to go the Olympics. And he believes the league should be thinking that way, too.

“It’s a partnership, right?” Marchand said. “The league has to help grow the game, the players have to help grow the game. We all play it because we love it and we want to share the game with as many people as we can across the world. And this is another way to do it. The Olympics is the most publicity you can get in hockey or any other sport. It’s a great way to do.”

This week’s B’s timeline

Today, vs. Tampa Bay, 1, p.m. — The B’s meet the Bolts in a rare Sunday matinee. Tampa Bay has lost Steven Stamkos to yet another long-term injury, but the Lightning always seem to manage.

Tuesday, at Philadelphia, 7, p.m. — The Flyers are what you’d call a hot mess. As of late last week, they ranked second in the league in goals scored, but led the league in goals allowed.

Thursday, vs. Carolina, 7, p.m. — The ’Canes and their promising young blueliners are coming on after a slow start. They’d ripped off five straight wins going into the long weekend.

Saturday, at Buffalo, 1, p.m. — The Sabres were in last place in the Atlantic last week, but they weren’t so far off the pace that they couldn’t be helped by a healthy Jack Eichel, who has begun practicing with the team.

LEAGUE ELECTS TO ALTER ALL-STAR RULES AFTER SCOTT FLAP

So the NHL came to its senses and last week instituted the John Scott Rule for its All-Star voting.

The parameters of the voting essentially remain the same, with the top vote-getters from each division being named the captain of that division’s squad, regardless of position. This difference this year is that a player must have been on a NHL roster as of Nov. 1 and no player assigned to the minors between Nov. 1 and Jan. 26 is eligible.

That would have made Scott ineligible last year, when the NHL tried to banish him from the showcase game after its flawed voting process allowed for more than a little mischief by the public.

I hated the campaign to vote in Scott, not because it aimed to embarrass the league — which ultimately proved to be more deserved than we thought. But it didn’t give a thought about embarrassing Scott, who by all accounts is a pretty good bloke despite having leveled some nasty hits on opponents (one on former Bruin Loui Eriksson chief among them).

But it was Scott’s good-nature and his downright refusal to take the vote in the callous spirit with which it was intended that saved the 2016 All-Star Game and the league. It turned out to be one of the best stories of the season when he became MVP of the game.

The league could not recreate that scenario if it wanted to, and so the new rules are prudent.

But the new regulations do leave room for outside-the-box thinking on your votes. Sick of just voting for the Sidney Crosbys and the Alexander Ovechkins of the world? Then try clicking your mouse for Matt Calvert, the Columbus’ Blue Jackets’ bottom-six winger. Calvert embodied the hockey ethic two weeks ago when he was cut wide open after blocking a shot with his face. As the ice beneath him turned crimson with his blood, he skated off to get 36 stitches over his eye.

Returning with a full wraparound head bandage — yes, in the same game — Calvert scored the shorthanded game-winner to beat the Rangers.

Calvert will most definitely be eligible. He had only two goals through 17 games, but it’s a good bet Columbus won’t be trying to slip him through waivers to send him to the minors any time soon. Every team wants a player like that. In fact, every team needs a player like him, which makes Calvert worthy of your vote.