The NHL’s Olympic roster freeze is over and the final push towards the trade deadline is under way. TSN.ca keeps you up to date with all the latest news and rumours with the daily Countdown to TradeCentre blog.

Follow all the latest trades here and the most up to date signings here.

Rebuild Continues in Vancouver

The Vancouver Canucks sit last in NHL as play gets set to resume and have entered a rebuild after trading star blueliner Quinn Hughes to the Minnesota Wild earlier this season.

Thomas Drance of The Athletic reports, though, that the Canucks “are a motivated seller… but not necessarily a pure seller.”He writes that the team is not actively looking to move veteranswith term andwill instead focus on acquiring draft capital for their pending unrestricted free agents.

Drance also adds that the Canucks are willing to be buyers if the team can bring on a player in need of a change of scenery to enhance their trade value over the next year, especially if the team receives additional assets for taking that player on. He notes the Canucks would like add centre depth and young players at the deadline, if possible.

Atop the list of pending UFAs inVancouver is veteran Evander Kane, who was acquired from the Edmonton Oilers this past summer.

The 34-year-old winger nine goals and 25 points in 56 games with the Canucks this season, carrying a cap hit of $5.125 million on his expiring deal. The Vancouver native brings a playoff pedigree having reached the Stanley Cup Final with the Oilers in each of the past two seasons, but Drance notes the market for him has not been “extremely robust.” He adds the Canucks are willing to retain the maximum of 50 per cent of Kane’s cap hit in order to facilitate a deal.

Centres David Kampf and Teddy Blueger are also playing on expiring deals in Vancouver and Drance believes the Canucks could fetch mid-round picks back for both players.

Kampf, 31, joined the team earlier this season after terminating his deal with the Toronto Maple Leafs, signing a one-year, $1.1 million deal. He has two goals and six points in 34 games with the Canucks.

Blueger, also 31, carries a cap hit of $1.8 million on his expiring deal. He has been limited to just 10 games with the Canucks this season due to injury, posting five goals and eight points. He appeared in all four of Latvia’s games at Milano Cortina 2026, posting one assist.

The future of Elias Pettersson remains a subject of discussion in Vancouver, with TSN Hockey Insider Darren Dreger stating Tuesday there has been renewed interest in the centre over the past month.

“There was interest renewed just prior to the February 4th Olympic break; trade discussions involving Elias Pettersson and I think it’s fair to assume that those conversations drifted over the course of the Olympic break,“ Dreger explained on Early Trading. ”So that brings us to here and now. It’s important to note here that Pettersson does possess a no-move clause.

“I know that the Vancouver Canucks have spoken to his representative, JP Barry, but there hasn’t been a formal offer made, a trade presentation on Elias Pettersson that would be worthwhile enough for the Vancouver Canucks to go to Barry to say ‘All right, is Pettersson willing to waive?’

“But it’s a developing story, and it’s one that we’re going to have to continue to follow.“

The 27-year-old Pettersson has 13 goals and 34 points in 49 games with the Canucks this season and posted two goals in five games with Team Sweden at the Olympics.

Pettersson posted three straight 30-goal seasons before finishing with 15 goals and 45 points in 64 games last season, the first year of an eight-year, $92.8 million deal that carries a cap hit of $11.6 million. He has a full no-move clause that kicked in on July 1 of last year.

The Canucks, who are 21 points back of the Anaheim Ducks for the final wild-card spot in the Western Conference, will resume their season on Wednesday against the Winnipeg Jets.

First trade arrives

The New York Islanders acquired forward Matt Luff from the St. Louis Blues in exchange for forward Julien Gauthier on Tuesday in the first trade since the Olympic freeze was lifted.

Luff, 28, has one goal in five NHL games so far this season. He also has 14 goals and 25 assists for 39 points in 42 AHL contests with the Springfield Thunderbirds.

He’s played parts of six NHL seasons with the Los Angeles Kings, Detroit Red Wings and Nashville Predators in addition to the Blues.

Gauthier, a former first-round pick of the Carolina Hurricanes in 2016, has not yet appeared in an NHL game in 2025-26, playing one game for the Isles last season. He has five goals and seven points in 14 AHL games this year for the Bridgeport Islanders.

The 28-year-old has played parts of eight NHL seasons with the Hurricanes, New York Rangers and Ottawa Senators in addition to the Islanders.

Ristolainen on the block again?

Kevin Kurz of The Athletic reports the Philadelphia Flyers are once again willing to listen on trade offers for defenceman Rasmus Ristolainen ahead of the trade deadline this year.

Kurz notes the Flyers are not in a rush to the6-foot-4blueliner, who remains signed through next season at a cap hit of $5.1 million. Ristolainen has one goal and six points in 19 games this season after missing time earlier due to the ankle injury that ended his 2024-25 campaign.

Kurz points to the Dallas Stars as a potential suitor for Ristolainen after missing out Rasmus Andersson, who was dealt to the Vegas Golden Knights in January. He notes the Stars may struggle to meet the Flyers asking price as the team is already without their first-round picks in 2026 and 2028, but do have their first two picks in 2027.

Ristolainen posted three assists in six games with Finland at Milano Cortina 2026, winning a bronze medal. He has averaged 19:54 of ice time with the Flyers this season.

Binnington’s stock back up

Jordan Binnington’s trade stock appears to be back up again after another strong performance for Team Canada at the Winter Olympics.

The 32-year-old went 4-1 at the tournament, posting a .917 save percentage and a 1.78 goals-against average. He turned aside 26 of the 28 shots he faced in the gold-medal game, with Jack Hughes beating him in overtime to secure the victory for Team USA.

Binnington has struggled with the St. Louis Blues this season, going 8-17-6 with an .864 save percentage and 3.65 goals-against average. He remains signed through next season at a cap hit of $6 million.

TSN’s Bryan Hayes argued Monday that contenders with a weakness at goaltender should look at adding the 2019 Stanley Cup champion to boost their playoff hopes.

Hot or Not: A goalie-needy team should trade for Binnington before the deadline After a solid performance at Milano Cortina 2026, should a goalie-needy team trade for Jordan Binnington? Did Connor Hellebuyck prove he’s the best goaltender in the world? Is golden goal-scorer Jack Hughes the new face of hockey? OverDrive host Bryan Hayes shares his thoughts in the latest edition of Montana’s Hot or Not.