It makes me wonder why some posters (including the OP) think that if NHL players won't play in 2018 Olympics, it has some big effects on the tournament. No, it does not. NHL is the best league, but still it's just one league and just one part of the hockey world. Olympics can be well played without NHL players. 100% of the non-hockey fans wouldn't see any difference and most of the hockey fans wouldn't see any difference in game quality either.
Actually Sochi tournament sucked. Quality level of playing was poor ja most games were really boring. Gold medal game was also something really anti-climatic. If the players had had KHL-player names on their backs, all "experts" here would say here that this is the outcome if NHL players are not along.
It just doesn't matter if Canadians don't care about some tournament, whether is it WHC or Olympics without NHLers. The tournament is about players who are playing and not about those who are not there or those fans who don't care. The team wins the gold, not the nation or players not available. It's really weird how many people try to use tournaments to prove which is best hockey nation. It's not logical. Tournament only proves that the winning team won that tournament.
If one accepts the cold fact above, it's easier to understand why the world is not circling around NHL players. Olympic teams don't need NHL players, the participating players still care and the winning team deserves Olympic gold medals. If Canadian people don't care, it's their problem. I don't care who wins curling gold, but still it doesn't mean that curling gold is meaningless to those who get it, or those who are interested of it.
Some posters also have claimed that Russia would have an easy way to gold with euro players. Claims like that reveals just lack of expertise. Finland, for example, has won Russia six times in row. It includes Olympics, WHC and four wins in Euro Hockey Tournament with euro players. It doesn't mean that Finland is better hockey country than Russia, but it means that Russia isn't overpowering with its euro players.
EHT standings before last two four games:
Finland 10 8 0 1 1 28-16 25
Czech 10 4 1 0 5 15-23 14
Russia 10 4 0 0 6 20-19 12
Sweden 10 2 1 1 6 22-27 9