The Olympics are done, and I for one am going to miss having sports on in the background all day. The Men's hockey especially, with the return of the NHL players was quite a treat. The level of play was fantastic, and hopefully it means we don't see the NHL remove participation anymore.

As a Canadian, the result in the Men's and the Women's competitions wasn't what we were hoping for, but the American teams certainly earned their results on both sides. Congrats to them on the double-gold.

The fact that the Olympic hockey games finished on the last day of the Games, coupled with the fact that the NHL returns tonight, means that there are a lot of tight travel schedules. It sounds as though players from the American team especially are going to risk missing the first game or two as they transition back to their day-to-day lives.

On top of that, there are the injuries that we're contending with, and added wear and tear that the NHL players have that the rest of the NHL isn't dealing with. We know players like Sidney Crosby, Josh Morrissey, Mikko Rantanen, and others will be missing a bit of time due to injuries sustained during the Olympics, but what about players like Nathan MacKinnon, Jack Hughes, and Tage Thompson who were supposedly playing through issues and never got the Olympic break like 90% of the league did. Perhaps we see a bit of load management with those players, and that's certainly something I'm anticipating.

As a Crosby owner in one league, and a Tage owner in two others, I'm planning around both of them missing a couple of games upon return. It's especially noteworthy as NHL games start back up again on a Wednesday, which means we're coming in hot almost halfway through a usual fantasy week. Depending on how your league or service provider splits up the weeks, you either have a short matchup, or a few days left to save an existing matchup. Check out the FrozenTools schedule planner to see if you can get an edge over the next couple of weeks.

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The next fun date on the NHL calendar is the Trade Deadline, which happens on a Friday this year. One of my dynasty leagues has our trade deadline the evening of the NHL trade deadline, which work out well staying up a little later on a weekend in order to finalize some last-minute deals.

With the deadline on March 6^th, we're already less than 10 days away, which means there will likely be lots of action to manage from a fantasy standpoint.

If you're like me and a little more in tune with players' head to head schedules then you're hoping that anyone you acquired for their increased game volume later in the season is not going to be moved, and maybe the bigger hope is that any players you do have at least don't see their situations worsen.

There's a lot to juggle with players being sat for "roster/trade related reasons", and the inevitable changes in deployment due to players being moved in or out. We have Fantasy Take articles out on the site for any players of general fantasy relevance that are moved, and the contents typically boil down to: how does this impact ice time, power play time, and linemates for the traded player(s), and for others on the teams involved in the trade, for any secondary ripples. Sometimes there are bigger deals that might also impact the outlook for a goalie as well, but those are usually less common, especially at the deadline.

We may see a few players of Nazem Kadri's caliber moved, and that kind of deal would make a lot of room for Morgan Frost at the top of the roster, and Rory Kerins to maybe get a full-time spot. Wherever Kadri goes is likely going to see their second line centre drop off, and possibly see a ripple effect through the power play roles as well. Kadri has noted he wants to be moved, and getting him back in Colorado makes sense as they cleared out some salary by moving Sam Girard. We'll have a real breakdown if it actually happens though.

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In what was both a cap clearing move for the Avs but also a look to get bigger for the playoffs, as mentioned above they shipped out Sam Girard to Pittsburgh yesterday along with a second round pick in exchange for Brett Kulak. It looks like a huge win for the Penguins on the surface, but that won't matter to the Avs if it both helps them bring in another bigger fish, and win the Cup.

Cliffy had his breakdown of the trade here.

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That wasn't the only deal yesterday, though it may have been the only one you heard about. Matt Luff and Julien Gauthier swapped teams in the first trade back from the Olympic break. Without checking, do you know which teams both of those players were previously on? I only knew one of the two off the top of my head before yesterday. Luff heads to the Islanders now, while Gauthier joins the Blues. Neither is fantasy relevant at all, but if you're in a super deep league and wondering which one has the added 0.5% chance of putting on a useful streak, it's probably Gauthier. Especially since St. Louis has seen some turnover in their forward ranks, making it easier for someone to move up into an NHL spot. On top of that, the Blues are more likely to be sellers, which would possibly free up an extra spot of two in the bottom-six the rest of the way.

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To wrap it up this week we'll look at a few players that I'm targeting heading into the trade deadline:

Rickard Rakell (LW) / Bryan Rust (RW) – Pittsburgh Penguins

Both Rust and Rakell have missed some time this year, and they may be missing Crosby in between them as they return from the break, but that's exactly why you may be able to get one or both. They're on solid contracts in cap leagues, have multiple years remaining of production, and as the kicker, Pittsburgh has a great fantasy playoff schedule. Owning one of these two for Pittsburgh's five-game week could really swing the balance in a matchup.

Nikolaj Ehlers (LW) – Carolina Hurricanes

After a rocky start, Ehlers has seen his scoring really take off from Q2. His shot rate has gone down since his first few games as a Hurricane, but the shot selectivity has led to a higher scoring rate, especially on the power play. Ehlers has lots of underlying metrics that could see some positive regression towards his averages with a big final quarter of the season. 

Kiefer Sherwood (LW/RW) – San Jose Sharks

Another player who missed some time with injury, Sherwood is in a bit of a different boat as he has also been traded, and his value isn't just coming from his scoring. Though with the trade and his new plum gig next to Macklin Celebrini, Sherwood should be able to score too. The Hits are where Sherwood really brings some special value, and the added ice time he looks to be getting with San Jose, especially in a puck-retrieval kind of role on the top line, those Hit numbers should remain quite high to finish out the year. San Jose also has the best fantasy hockey playoff schedule this season for those of you in leagues that go all the way to game 82.

Jared McCann (C/LW) – Seattle Kraken

The next best fantasy playoff schedule after San Jose? Well it's the Seattle Kraken, whose best player is still flying under the radar despite an incredible run recently of 20 points in his last 17 games, eight of which are on the power play, and if the Kraken sell then McCann should see a little added boost of ice time too.

Adam Fox (D) – New York Rangers

In keeping with the theme, Fox and the Rangers have a great schedule to end the year, including a lot of off-nights in busy weeks where there aren't many to be found. He has been a full participant in practice and should be back in games very soon. He's pacing at close to a point per game again after a slower season last year, and he's likely going to come back with a fire lit under him after being left off the American Olympic team that then won gold without him.

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See you next Wednesday for a trade deadline primer, and if you have any fantasy hockey questions or comments you can find me on BlueSky @alexdmaclean.