The NHL’s players are back in the Olympics, which means a roster freeze.<\/p>\n
The freeze commences Wednesday, Feb. 4 at 3 p.m. ET (12 noon PT), and it might just function like a mini trade deadline.<\/p>\n
“No trades will be permitted from this point until 11:59 p.m. ET Feb. 22,” Daily Faceoff’s Matt Larkin writes<\/a>. “Does that mean we\u2019ll see a mini Trade Deadline play out leading up to Feb. 4? It would give traded players three weeks to sort their lives out and prepare to join their new teams.”<\/p>\n One expected layer to this is that teams particularly far out of the playoff race will be quicker to use this window as a chance to get their players traded away.<\/p>\n MORE:\u00a0Maple Leafs get an Auston Matthews update on his future plans<\/a><\/p>\n The Vancouver Canucks<\/a>, for example, still have a ton of trade candidates. It doesn’t do them any good to keep them around through the Olympics, particularly if anyone were to get hurt while playing in the tournament.<\/p>\n Evander Kane isn’t going to the Olympics, but he has a sizable contract relative to some trade candidates. His name was floated throughout January as someone possibly to be moved sooner rather than later.<\/p>\n Vancouver won’t be the only team in this kind of situation. A look toward the bottom of the standings can reveal other possibilities here.<\/p>\n MORE:\u00a0Matthew Schaefer called his shot against the Rangers<\/a><\/p>\n