RALEIGH, N.C. — Sitting thousands of miles from Europe at the Stanley Cup Final, it is easy to think only about the hockey ramifications of potentially welcoming Russian players back to international hockey tournaments.Of course the NHL would like to have more of its marquee talents available as it more warmly embraces international events. That goes without saying. But a comment made by deputy commissioner Bill Daly during the annual State of the NHL news conference with commissioner Gary Bettman on Tuesday helps illustrate why the issue remains anything but easy for many with a stake in tournaments such as the 2028 World Cup.Daly set off alarm bells a continent away when asked how the NHL was going to handle a potential boycott by Finland, Sweden or Czechia if Russia was allowed to return. The hockey federations in those countries have stood in strong opposition to the idea due to the ongoing Russian invasion of Ukraine. However, Daly told reporters he’d had a conversation on Tuesday morning with someone from the International Ice Hockey Federation, which assured him it wouldn’t be an issue.“They don’t anticipate a problem with the Swedes and Finns, necessarily, or the Czechs right now, in terms of a boycott if it comes to that,” Daly said.That notion was publicly rebuked by the Finnish federation on Wednesday. It released a statement credited to president Heikki Hietanen stating that there had been no movement on their end.“The Finnish Ice Hockey Association’s position on Russia has not changed,” the statement read. “Nor have we had any discussions on the matter with any party.”Alois Hadamczik, the head of the Czech federation, expressed a similar sentiment to reporters there.“It’s clear to me that for the duration of the war that Russia unleashed, it cannot be allowed to play on the international hockey scene,” Hadamczik said, according to a translation of an article posted on sport.cz.The Swedish federation didn’t issue a statement and did not immediately respond to a request for one from The Athletic, but notably, any Swedish player in the KHL is banned from playing for the national team. The IIHF also couldn’t be reached for comment.