Trades, drama and playoff races: What to know as NHL season fires back up

After witnessing the speed and intensity of Olympic hockey, it might take a minute to get fired up for the day-to-day happenings of the regular ol’ best league in the world. But if there’s any consolation coming off the Olympic high, it’s that we’re jumping back right into the red meat of the NHL season.

Club-team hockey resumes on Wednesday, when U.S. overtime hero Jack Hughes of the New Jersey Devils will host fellow gold medallist Tage Thompson and the Buffalo Sabres, while Canadian coach Jon Cooper sees American captain Auston Matthews and the Toronto Maple Leafs in Tampa.

It won’t take long to recalibrate loyalties, as the points up for grabs are — in many games — critical in the playoff chase. And while we’re switching uniforms back from country to club, remember there’s a bevy of jersey-swapping coming in advance of a fast-arriving NHL trade deadline.

So, as we all catch our breath from the five-ringed frenzy, here are some things to get back on your radar as the NHL season picks back up.

Strap in for some serious moves

The Olympic trade freeze has lifted and the trade deadline — March 6 — is less than two weeks away. It feels like six months have passed since Artemi Panarin was dealt from the New York Rangers to the Los Angeles Kings, but that occurred just three weeks ago, right before the break. As Panarin prepares to make his Kings debut on Wednesday versus the Vegas Golden Knights, our attention turns the other players populating lists like our own Nick Kypreos’ trade board. 

Will Dougie Hamilton and the Devils actually part ways? Can the Calgary Flames find something that works for the team and player when it comes to Nazem Kadri? Will the Preds part with Ryan O’Reilly? Could Team Canada GM Doug Armstrong come home and do some serious selling for the St. Louis Blues, and will Team USA GM Bill Guerin follow up the monster swap for Quinn Hughes by dealing heralded goalie prospect Jesper Wallstedt?

On the flip side, who’s ready to push in some chips? Five of the top eight Eastern Conference teams by points percentage — Pittsburgh, Detroit, Buffalo, Boston and the Islanders — missed the playoffs last year. And, in the case of the Wings and Sabres, for many seasons before that.

Anybody ready to get bold?

One way or another, Buffalo figures to be front and centre when it comes to hot-stove talk in the next 10 days. We’re getting closer to crunch time with Alex Tuch, who would be the biggest UFA on the open market if he doesn’t ink an extension with the Sabres. Would new Buffalo GM Jarmo Kekalainen keep Tuch beyond the deadline regardless of his contract status, or can the Sabres — surging or not — really risk losing him for nothing in the summer?

Huge decisions around the NHL are about to become a daily happening.

Time for the Leafs to pick a path

Everything is seen through the lens of the trade deadline and the playoff chase this time of year, and there might not be a bigger will they/won’t they team than the Toronto Maple Leafs. Recall, the Buds won their final three games before the break to keep themselves a relevant piece of the Eastern Conference wild-card chase.

But just barely. 

The first two games out of the gate for Toronto — in Tampa on Wednesday and in Sunrise, Fla., the next night — could determine how this team attacks the deadline. If it winds up being a sell position from the Leafs, pending-UFA Bobby McMann could be on a different team by this time next week.

Champs on life support

Speaking of Florida, the two-time defending champs are going to miss the playoffs unless they turn things around in a hurry. Only two teams — the New Jersey Devils and the hard-selling New York Rangers — in the Eastern Conference have a worse points percentage than the Panthers’ .535 mark. Florida has played the same number of games (57) as wild-card-holding Boston and Buffalo, and trail the Sabres by nine points and Boston by eight. 

Aleksander Barkov — who’s been out all year — will join the team at some point, but it’s going to be too late if the Cats can’t string together a bunch of wins immediately after play resumes. 

At the other end of the spectrum, the Columbus Blue Jackets went into the break as the hottest team in hockey and will be gunning for their eighth-straight win — and 13th in 14 tries — when they visit a team they’re attempting to chase down in Boston on Thursday. 

Star absences

The downside to the Olympics is players can get hurt competing for a team other than the one that pays them. One of the tougher sights of the Games was seeing Swiss winger Kevin Fiala carried off the ice versus Canada and, indeed, the Kings — fresh off picking up Panarin for the playoff push — are now without Fiala for the rest of the season.

Also, Mikko Rantanen was injured in Finland’s semifinal versus Canada and is expected to miss time for the Dallas Stars with a lower-body injury.

And, of course, no Canadian needs reminding that Sidney Crosby was injured along the way and unable to play in Canada’s final two contests. Now we’ll see what happens as he returns to a Penguins team that’s surprised all season. 

Trophy races heat up

Fresh off being linemates in Italy, Connor McDavid and Nathan MacKinnon will resume an Art Ross race that sees McDavid sitting on 96 points, MacKinnon on 93 and Nikita Kucherov lurking with 91. Kucherov has a staggering 40 points since the calander flipped to 2026, as he’s averaging a league-best (obviously) 2.50 points per game since Jan. 1. 

Also, Kucherov’s Tampa Bay teammate Andrei Vasilevskiy is starting to run away with the Vezina Trophy and might even warrant MVP consideration alongside the big-time scorers.

The brilliance of Kucherov and Vasilevskiy has given Tampa a chance to chase down the Colorado Avalanche for top spot overall. The Bolts, winners of five straight, trail Colorado by five points with both teams having played 55 contests.

A burgeoning Presidents’ Trophy battle is just one more reason that re-engaging with NHL hockey may not be as hard as you think.