Trade Deadline Primer: Minnesota Wild
With the Olympic break approaching, the trade deadline is about a month away. Where does each team stand, and what moves should they be looking to make? We begin our look around the league with teams that have clear plans at the extremes of the standings, this time with Wild.
Our Trade Deadline primer series rolls on with the market’s current big fish. The Minnesoa Wild pulled off one of the biggest trades in recent memory when they sent top-six center Marco Rossi, top prospect Zeev Buium, wing prospect Liam Ohgren, and a first-round pick to the Vancouver Canucks for franchise defenseman Quinn Hughes. The monster move has already returned dividends. Minnesota has posted a 16-5-5 record with Hughes in the lineup – but still appear a few lineup pieces shy of true Stanley Cup contention. The Trade Deadline will challenge Minnesota to mend those holes with a recently-thinned wallet.
Record
34-14-10 (2nd in Central Division)
Deadline Status
Buyers
Deadline Cap Space
$14.52MM on deadline day, 0/3 retention slots used, 42/50 contracts used per PuckPedia.
Upcoming Draft Picks
2026: MIN 3rd, MIN 4th, SJS 5th, MIN 5th, MIN 6th, MIN 7th
2027: MIN 1st, MIN 3rd, MIN 4th, MIN 5th, MIN 6th, MIN 7th
Trade Chips
The Wild dealt most of their loose pieces in their big buy for Hughes. What was left behind is a relatively solid lineup with no major value-buys sticking out. That hasn’t stopped Minnesota from finding ways to stay on top of the trade market. The club has dangled star goalie prospect Jesper Wallstedt in recent trade discussion, in an attempt to find a star addition on offense.
Wallstedt offers unprecedented market value. The Nashville Predators traded top goalie prospect Yaroslav Askarov, and a third-round pick, to the San Jose Sharks in 2024 in exchange for David Edstrom, Magnus Chrona, and a first-round pick. Counting Edstrom’s draft capital, that is the equivalent of two first-round picks – a price that Wallstedt could supercede with his performance this season. Finally stuck in an NHL role, Wallstedt has posted 14 wins and a .914 save percentage in 23 games this season. He has proven to be a true force in the NHL, after doing as much in both the AHL and SHL.
The Wild could land a serious addition on the back of Wallstedt’s value alone. They could add to it their 2027 first-round pick or top prospects like Charlie Stramel or Ryder Ritchie to seemingly land some of the biggest names on the market. With plenty of cap space on deadline day and one more year on Hughes’ current contract, there could be little-to-nothing holding Minnesota back from going all-in.
Trade Needs
Thee Center: Minnesota has held tryouts for their top-center role through the last four seasons. None of Rossi, Joel Eriksson Ek, Ryan Hartman, or Danila Yurov have appeared capable of leading a Cup-winning offense. It is clear the Wild are one piece short of a true top lineup. Luckily, this year’s market is unusually rife with center talent.
Minnesota might be able to swing Robert Thomas away from the St. Louis Blues with their assembly of Wallstedt and future capital. Thomas is a clear top center in the midst of his prime on a Blues team heading the wrong way. He would offer a forechecking and playmaking presence that would fit seamlessly next to play-driving scorers Kirill Kaprizov and Matt Boldy, like it has next to Jordan Kyrou in St. Louis. The Blues will need to be swayed to trade away their core forward, especially to an interdivision rival, but a core future piece like Wallstedt could be enough.
The Wild could pull off a similar deal for Calgary Flames center Nazem Kadri, though the Flames are less likely to be swayed by a trade package surrounding a star goalie. That offer could be more convincing should the Vancouver Canucks let Minnesota double-dip and target Elias Pettersson.
Should Thomas, Kadri, and Pettersson be too rich for Minnesota’s taste, they could find cheaper options in Rangers’ center Vincent Trocheck or Sharks’ center Alexander Wennberg. Neither player would fill the top-line role outright, though they could add some nice diversity next to Hartman, Eriksson Ek, and Yurov on the depth chart. Trocheck has 12 goals and 36 points in 43 games with New York, while Wennberg has stepped up with 37 points in 55 games.
Some Goalie Reassurance: Dangling Wallstedt for another big trade is a bold, and potentially franchise-altering, decision by the Wild. They would need to replace their backup goalie role should Wallstedt move, with Calvin Petersen and Samuel Hlavaj both boasting sub-.900 save percentages in the minors.
The Wild could find that quite easily if they make it a priority in their buy of a new center. The Blues could likely be separated from former Cup-winner Jordan Binnington in a deal where they land Wallstedt. That would give the Wild a veteran addition – and a rival familiar to Wild and Team USA general manager Bill Guerin – to backup Filip Gustavsson. Minnesota could also find a few different options in the Canucks, who currently have Nikita Tolopilo and Jiri Patera battling for the NHL backup role after an injury to Thatcher Demko.
Should Minnesota want to split their buys into two deals, they could benefit from connecting with the Pittsburgh Penguins or Florida Panthers, in an attempt to buy netminders like Joel Blomqvist or Daniil Tarasov. Both would come with a cost, though could probably be pulled away with the right argument.
Photo courtesy of John E. Sokolowski-Imagn Images.
Panthers’ 2026 First-Round Pick Traded To Blackhawks Is Top-10 Protected
The Florida Panthers acquired defenseman Seth Jones from the Chicago Blackhawks at the 2025 Trade Deadline. In return, the Blackhawks received goaltender Spencer Knight and a conditional 2026 first-round pick. At the time, the reported condition was that the pick would become Florida’s 2027 first should the Panthers find another trade involving their 2026 pick. It was revealed on Friday – nearly a full year after the deal – that the pick also carries top-10 protection, per hockey insider Frank Seravalli.
That condition was later confirmed by Ben Pope of the Chicago Sun-Times, who adds that Chicago has been aware of the protection since the trade occured.
This news will diminish the Blackhawks’ chances of landing two top-10 picks in a strong 2026 draft class. Chicago currently sits with the sixth-worst points percentage, while Florida holds the 10th-worst. Wielding both first-round picks, with no protection, could have nearly doubled Chicago’s chances at landing the first-overall selection.
Instead, the Blackhawks will have to watch where Florida falls before they can start planning for the next two drafts. The Panthers have faced consistent challenges this season and enter the Olympic break with a 4-6-0 record in their last 10 games. The back-to-back Stanley Cup champions seem headed for a postseason miss, pending a surge in the second-half.
While a chance at double-dipping in the top-10 is always enticing, the Blackhawks’ prospect pool will move forward relatively unaffected. Draft pundits have agreed that top-10 value could fall into the teens of this year’s draft, while the 2027 class is believed to be another loaded year. Chicago has spent the last eight years building one of the best prospect pools in the league and are now entering a phase where promoting young talent will become more important than adding it. That could push the Hawks to consider moving out draft capital for some veteran rivets, an approach argued for by Kyle Bokota of Blackhawk Up.
Chicago seems headed for a high pick regardless this season, and still hold outside odds to land first-overall. Their scouting room will be as busy as ever, looking to land another value pick to join Anton Frondell and Vaclav Nestrasil Jr. from their 2025 class.
Lightning Place Jack Finley On Waivers
The Tampa Bay Lightning have made another roster move ahead of the NHL’s looming break, placing centerman Jack Finley on waivers per Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman.
Finley lost his waiver exemption just over two weeks ago, after being called up on December 20th. Teams across the NHL will now have a chance to add the 23-year-old, former second-round draft pick.
Finley has spent the bulk of the season on Tampa Bay’s roster. He won an extra forward role out of training camp and rotated into the lineup throughout November. The Lightning briefly assigned Finley to the minors in mid-December on the heels of a five-game scoring drought. The move seemed to provide a spark. Finley scored three points in three AHL games, returned to the NHL with a two-point performance, and earned an outright fourth-line role amid a handful of injuries.
But Finley hasn’t kept his hot streak alive in a nightly role. He has recorded no points and a minus-one over his last 10 appearances, even despite Tampa Bay posting a 9-0-1 record and +19 goal differntial in those games. Finley has bridged his lack of production by averaging the fourth-most hits per game on the team.
Tampa Bay will need more than that to keep the offense firing on all cylinders. A waiver designation could give the Lightning a chance to assign Finley to the minors, where he racked up 60 points in 92 games over the last two seasons. That is, if another team isn’t interested in locking Finley into their own bottom-six role.
2026 NHL Draft Star Gavin McKenna Facing Misdemeanor Charges
Feb. 6: The felony charge against McKenna has been withdrawn by Pennsylvania prosecutors, according to Ryan Graffius and Gary Sinderson of WJAC. He is still facing a misdemeanor charge of simple assault and summary offenses for harassment and disorderly conduct.
Feb. 5: McKenna’s court date will be Wednesday, February 11, per a media release from the State College, Pennsylvania, police department.
Feb. 4: Projected 2026 first-overall pick and Penn State University winger Gavin McKenna was arrested and charged with felony aggravated assault on Saturday night, per court documents obtained by The Athletic. McKenna reportedly got into an altercation with another individual during a private team event on Saturday night, says Mike McMahon of College Hockey News. McMahon further reported in his newsletter that McKenna broke the other individual’s jaw with a punch. No information has been released on McKenna’s court arraignment – and no statement has been released by the school.
McKenna is a Nittany Lions star who currently leads the school’s men’s hockey team in scoring with 32 points in 24 games. He is in his freshman season and on a record-setting NIL deal after winning the WHL Championship with the Medicine Hat Tigers last season. McKenna scored 41 goals and 129 points in 56 games in his final WHL season. He became the third U18 player to score 120 points in the WHL since 2000, joining Connor Bedard (143 points, 2023) and Nic Petan (120 points, 2013). Those marks made McKenna the first blue-chip recruit to pursue the NCAA after the league began allowing CHL talent.
Now, it appears the remainder of McKenna’s draft season could be drawn into question. The dynamic winger is a star scorer when he’s on the ice, with flashy stickhandling and sharp vision. He has improved his ability to play a physical, 200-foot game as part of the Big Ten, though that growth could soon be overshadowed by pressing legal challenges. Pro Hockey Rumors will update this story with further information as it becomes available.
Minor Transactions: 2/5/2026
The NHL has one night of games left before a three-week break for the 2026 Winter Olympics. That has left many teams scrambling to make sure their waiver-exempt players are assigned to the minor leagues, which will allow them to stay on the ice for up to a dozen games on the AHL calendar. Pro Hockey Rumors will capture those transactions, and more, in the latest minor transactions tracker:
- The most notable prospect headed to the minors is Nashville Predators winger Matthew Wood, per a team release. Wood has spent the bulk of the season with the NHL club after a call-up in late October. He has scored nine goals and 17 points in 46 games, enough to rank seventh among all Predators forwards in scoring. Wood also scored one goal in the first two AHL games of his career earlier this season. He joined the Predators’ roster at the end of the 2024-25 campaign after posting 39 points in as many games with the University of Minnesota. Now, the volume-shooter could find a way to rediscover his scoring touch while also buoying the Admirals’ roster.
- The Washington Capitals joined the goalie run, assigning Garin Bjorklund to the AHL in a corresponding move to Logan Thompson‘s activation from injured reserve. Bjorklund has only played in the minors this season, recording four wins and a .879 SV% in 11 AHL games and four wins and a .929 SV% in seven ECHL games. This move will allow him to continue carving out an AHL role after spending the last three seasons in the ECHL.
- Veteran goaltender Jon Gillies is back in the minors as AHL Syracuse announced that they’ve signed him to a PTO deal. It’s his second stint of the season with the Crunch but the first only lasted one game. Gillies has seen action in parts of five NHL seasons but has played exclusively in the minors over the past couple of years. He has a 2.91 GAA and a .905 SV% in 27 games with ECHL Orlando this season.
- Following yesterday’s game against Edmonton, the Flames announced that they’ve returned winger Matvei Gridin and defenceman Hunter Brzustewicz to AHL Calgary to keep them playing during the break. Gridin has three goals and three assists in 13 games with the Flames this season over a pair of stints with them despite not turning 20 until next month. Brzustewicz, meanwhile, picked up his first career NHL goal late last month and has that marker plus an assist in 18 NHL appearances so far.
- After tonight’s game, the Devils announced that forward Lenni Hameenaho and defenseman Colton White were assigned to AHL Utica. Hameenaho impressed in his first taste of NHL action, picking up two goals and two assists in nine games. White, meanwhile, was a healthy scratch tonight and heads back to the Comets with four assists in 23 games in New Jersey so far this season.
Penguins Recall Avery Hayes, Three Out
The Pittsburgh Penguins are facing a shakeup on offense in their final game before the Olympic break. Winger Avery Hayes was recalled to the NHL and will make his NHL debut to help Pittsburgh address absences for Noel Acciari, Rickard Rakell, and Blake Lizotte.
Acciari entered the day with an illness. He was designated as a game-time decision and ultimately scratched. Rakell has been designated as day-to-day with a lower-body injury. It isn’t yet clear if or how that injury will impact his availability for the Olympic games. Finally, Lizotte will be away from the team to attend to the birth of his child. All injury updates come per Josh Yohe of The Athletic.
The lineup shift will leave Penguins forward Benjamin Kindel and Egor Chinakhov as focal pieces of the offense, with the rookie Kindel even earning top power-play reps. Chinakhov has scored six points in his last six games, while Kindel has five points. They will help make up for the glaring holes left by Pittsburgh’s absentees. All three have made their marks felt over the last two weeks, though surprisingly Lizotte and Acciari have proven the hotter hands, with four points to Rakell’s three.
Pittsburgh will get another boost from one of their AHL leading scorers. Hayes has racked up 23 points and 41 penalty minutes in 31 AHL games this season. It’s a ramped up year across the board after the two-way winger posted 23 goals, 42 points, and 58 PIMs in 60 games last season. The undrafted Hayes is in his third AHL season. He was a two-time OHL champion across four years in the league, where he made a name for himself as a plug-and-play winger capable of fitting next to any linemates. Pittsburgh will hope Hayes brings that same flexibility into his first game at the top flight.
Senators’ Linus Ullmark Out With Illness, Hunter Shepard Recalled
The Ottawa Senators will be without their star goaltender in their final game before the NHL’s break for the Winter Olympics. Linus Ullmark will sit out due to flu-like sympyoms, per TSN’s Bruce Garrioch. The news comes just under an hour before puck drop. James Reimer will assume the starting role in Ullmark’s absence, while Hunter Shepard has been recalled to the NHL to serve as backup.
Reimer is back in the NHL after a mid-season professional try-out turned into a one-year contract with the Senators. He has recorded two wins and a .862 save percentage in six games with Ottawa, while adding another loss and .786 Sv% in his sole AHL game. Both numbers are far south from the 10 wins and .883 Sv% that Reimer recorded in 24 games last season – 22 spent with the Buffalo Sabres and two with the Anaheim Ducks. The 37 year old has continued to offer a presence in the crease, though he’ll still be a shaky hand to rely on as Ottawa looks to continue a 4-1 record over their last five games.
The Senators have only received marginally better play from de facto starter Ullmark. The former Vezina Trophy winner has posted 16 wins and a .884 save percentage in 30 games this season. It is his first year with a save percentage south of .900 – a feat he has curbed in each of his 10 other seasons in the league. That includes his first year with Ottawa last season, when Ullmark put up 25 wins and a .910 Sv% in 44 games. That was the seventh-highest save percentage from any NHL starter last season.
Shepard, who will serve as backup, has posted six wins and a .888 Sv% in 14 AHL games this season. He managed a .891 Sv% in 39 games with the Hershey Bears last season.
Such a late scratch should indicate that Ullmark will be good-to-go when Ottawa returns on February 26th. The Senators currently sit last in the Atlantic Division, though they’re tied with the Florida Panthers in total points (61). They are the only club in the bototm five of the Eastern Conference with a positive goal-differential (+6).
Team Canada To Replace Injured Brayden Point With Seth Jarvis
After five days of practices, Tampa Bay Lightning forward Brayden Point has determined he will not be healthy enough to join Team Canada at the 2026 Winter Olympics. He has been removed from the roster and will be replaced by Carolina Hurricanes’ winger Seth Jarvis, per Pierre LeBrun of The Athletic and Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman.
Point sustained a knee injury in Tampa Bay’s January 12th win over the Philadelphia Flyers. The injury knocked him off the ice until last Saturday, when he returned to practice with the hopes of working back to health in time for a trip to Milan, per Eduardo A. Encina of Tampa Bay Times. Despite that return, Point has determined he won’t be at 100 percent before games kick off. Lightning general manager Julien BriseBois commended Point – and Tampa Bay teammate Anthony Cirelli – for their selflessness in giving up their spot rather than trying to play through injury in a text to LeBrun.
This switch will bring on some stylistic changes for Team Canada. Point is often used as a center, though seemed headed for a wing-role in Milan in part thanks to his 45.9 faceoff percentage this season. He is a reserved scorer who has managed 11 goals and 30 points in 37 games, typically finding his scoring chances from the slot. Jarvis has proven much more aggressive in recent years, typically operating as the first-man-in on Carolina’s forecheck and cutting his teeth in board battles. He has 69 hits on the season to Point’s four. Jarvis has also scored 25 goals and 43 points in 48 games, continuing his knack for strong scoring after cresting the 30-goal and 65-point mark in each of the last two seasons.
Both players found an impact for Team Canada at the 2025 4-Nations Face-Off. Point served up the lineup and managed two points in four games, while Jarvis defaulted to the bottom-six and scored one assist in three games. They were both on the ice for the tournament finale against Team USA, where Point’s 21 minutes of ice time ranked second on the offense behind only Connor McDavid. Jarvis played roughly 13 minutes in that game – second-lowest on the team ahead of Brad Marchand.
That deployment goes far in painting Canada’s view of the two stars. While Jarvis has acheived more success this season, he is still the junior to two-time Stanley Cup winner Point. Jarvis is six years younger and still carving out his presence in the NHL. This year’s Winter Olympics could go far in helping cement his status, especially after Jarvis only attended two tournaments with Canada – the 2019 World U-17 Hockey Championshp and Hlinka Gretzky Cup – prior to his selection to the 4-Nations roster. This will be his biggest stage yet and it comes at a perfect time. Jarvis is red-hot, with 10 points and a plus-eight in his last nine games, of which Carolina has won seven.
Notably, this decisions will leave Winnipeg Jets star Mark Scheifele and Chicago Blackhawks cornerstone Connor Bedard both at home. Scheifele hasn’t represented Canada internationally since the 2017 World Championship when he scored eight points in 10 games. Nearly a decade later, the Jets alternate captain is on pace for 40 goals and 100 points this season – so far at 27 goals and 68 points in 56 games. Bedard has offered plenty of offensive punch of his own, with 23 goals and 53 points in 43 games on a struggling Blackhawks offense. The duo are two of the league’s most skilled scorers but will be superceded by a winger who offers a bit more intangibles.
Photo courtesy of Sergei Belski-Imagn Images.
Kraken Reassign Oscar Fisker Molgaard, Place Berkly Catton On IR
2/5: As expected, Fisker Molgaard was reassigned on Thursday morning. He played just under seven minutes of ice time in Seattle’s Wednesday night win over the Los Angeles Kings, and did not record any notable stat changes.
2/4: The Seattle Kraken have swapped around the rookies on their active roster. Winger Berkly Catton has been placed on injured reserve with an injury sustained in Seattle’s win over the Toronto Maple Leafs on January 29th. The rookie took a hit to the head from Leafs defenseman Oliver Ekman-Larsson but was able to get off the ice under his own power, after a moment. He has missed two games since.
Catton was knocked out of the lineup in the midst of a running cold-streak. He has fallen to a depth role with one goal, two points, and a minus-one over his last nine games. Through what is officially his NHL rookie season, Catton has totaled only 11 points in 40 games. It has been a quiet year after back-to-back 100-point seasons in the WHL. Catton hasn’t yet made his AHL debut – something that could come on the other side of his recovery from this long-term injury. He will have the next three week to heal up before Seattle returns of February 25th.
With the roster spot created by Catton’s designation, the Kraken have called up winger Oscar Fisker Molgaard. He will have a chance to step into the lineup in Seattle’s final game before the three-week break for the Winter Olympics. Fisker-Molgaard will likely be returned to the minors before NHL rosters freeze on Friday, allowing him to stay on the ice while Kraken teammates Kaapo Kakko, Eeli Tolvanen, and Philipp Grubauer represent their countries in Milan.
Fisker Molgaard played the first two games of his NHL career in November. He recorded one assist, one shot on goal, and one hit. He has spent the rest of the season in a prominent role with the AHL’s Coachella Valley Firebirds, where his 22 points in 36 games rank fourth in scoring. Fisker Molgaard has served as the team’s second-line center in his rookie season in North American pros. He spent the last three speasons in Sweden’s SHL, where he racked up 47 points in 129 games. It isn’t clear if Fisker Molgaard will step into the NHL lineup before the break. He was briefly recalled, but didn’t play, in January.
Blackhawks Reassign Sam Rinzel
2/5/2026: The Blackhawks reassigned Rinzel back to Rockford today, returning him to the AHL in time for the Olympic break.
Rinzel played in three NHL games during his most recent recall, tallying one goal. Notably, his ice time was up considerably from his last NHL stint. In his final game of his recall, against the Blue Jackets yesterday, he played nearly 26 minutes.
1/30/2026: The Chicago Blackhawks have made a move to fortify their blue-line. Top prospect Sam Rinzel has been recalled to the NHL, putting him on the Blackhawks roster for the first time in 2026. This move comes amid a quiet spell for fellow top youngster Artyom Levshunov, who was on the ice for five goals against in Thursday’s loss to the Pittsburgh Penguins.
Attention will hone in on which young defender Chicago decides to roll out with three games left on their schedule before the Olympic break. Levshunov has struggled through much of January. In 15 games since the new year, he has been on the ice for 16 goals-against, while only posting three points of his own. The only Blackhawk to see more goals is Levshunov’s defense partner, Wyatt Kaiser, who has been on the ice for 17 goals-against.
Levshunov has recorded 21 points and a minus-27 in 52 games on the year. His scoring is up, but his plus-minus is down, from the six points and minus-13 that Levshunov recorded in 18 games last season. Even with the pit he’s in, Levshunov has still averaged 19 minutes of ice time each game, emphasizing that Chicago hasn’t lost faith in their former second-overall talent.
With this move, Chicago will open the door to potentially resting Levshunov for the short-term, while giving Rinzel another chance to stamp his spot in the NHL lineup. The Blackhawks assigned Rinzel to the AHL after he scored just eight points in 28 games to start the season. His first stint in the minors got off to a roaring start – with Rinzel scoring seven points in his first four AHL games – but it has quieted down as of late. Rinzel has scored only three points in his last 15 games, bringing his totals with the Rockford IceHogs up to 10 points and a minus-10 in 19 games. It’s another cold spell that Chicago is hoping to snap with this roster move. Rinzel scored five points in the first nine games of his NHL career at the end of the 2024-25 season. He has shown strong sparks that could help lift Chicago out of their recent four-game losing streak.