The NHL and NHL Players’ Association differ on levels of optimism that should be attached to it but make no mistake about what happened last Tuesday in a key meeting.



The International Olympic Committee made overtures to welcome NHL players back into the fold.



“Yes, it’s pretty exciting stuff,’’ NHLPA executive Mathieu Schneider told The Athletic on Sunday. “I’m not sure if I would say it surprised us, but we were happy with the meeting, there’s no question about it. It was a really positive meeting. It was a really good gesture on the IOC’s part.’’



Schneider also credited IIHF president Rene Fasel for his work behind the scenes to get the IOC to make some key concessions.



The IIHF, IOC, NHL and NHLPA were all in that meeting last Tuesday in New York, and while there’s much more be done, at least from the NHLPA perspective, there’s a clear path to getting the world’s...