Congratulations to Team USA!
The Olympics are in the books, and with Team USA claiming gold, the spotlight swings back to NHL business as the trade freeze lifts Sunday night at 11:59 p.m. The break didn’t slow the rumor mill, though—speculation kept churning even while league action was paused.
Fluto Shinzawa of The Athletic regarding Andrew Peeke: If a contender is eager to add right-side depth, the Bruins would be interested in adding to their pipeline.
They should, without question — even if that addition ultimately becomes a trade asset in another move.
Johan Svensson and Mattias Persson of Expressen (Sweden): More than half the NHL teams including the Bruins, who sent a team of scouts to Gothenburg recently have expressed interest in free agent Theodor Niederbach.
Niederbach is reported to have an “apparent out clause” in his deal — a mechanism he’d need to activate if he intends to leave, since he’s already under contract with Frölunda in the SHL for next season.
My understanding is that the current NHL–SHL Player Transfer Agreement gives every SHL player an NHL out clause, but it must be exercised — and an NHL contract signed — by June 15 to keep the transfer fee at roughly $380,000, with any move after that date still permitted but triggering a significantly higher fee for the NHL club.
The NHL-SHL PTA also states that any player under the age of 24 must make the NHL roster or be loaned back to his Swedish squad. In other words, the AHL is not an option. However, Niederbach turns 24 on February 25, so there is no issue there.
A team could sign him and bring him over immediately, but he’d have to clear waivers first, and that’s where the real question lies: if there’s truly interest from half the league, it’s hard to imagine he’d make it through unclaimed.
Darren Dreger on First Up: I don’t have this rock solid, but there is a sense that maybe there are deals that were more or less agreed to, not finalized but agreed to in terms of the level of negotiating, prior to the start of the Olympic roster freeze.
Thomas Drance on Donnie and Dhali regarding the Canucks: We’ll see if they sort of move on any of their other veteran forwards that are signed long term, but the sense I got prior to the trade freeze was that the club’s not proactively looking to do that.
Totally against everything else that is being thrown out there isn’t it?
More from Drance from The Athletic regarding Evander Kane: The market for his services, even if 50 percent of his salary and cap hit is retained, is lukewarm.
A 50 percent retention brings the cap hit to just over $2.5 million, and there may be a team willing to bite at that price. It’s doubtful the Bruins are one of them, and that’s probably a good thing.
Dave Pagnotta on The Sheet: A lot of smoke. I would be surprised if he’s [Blake Coleman] not moved by the deadline.
Pagnotta on Daily Faceoff Live: I look at Tampa, and there was a lot of talk about Tampa looking to add up front. We know they’ve got a little bit of interest in bringing Blake Coleman back.
More Pagnotta regarding Evgeni Malkin: At some point between now and, I guess the weekend when the Olympics end, they’re expected to have a conversation to decide the next steps for Geno’s career.
Malkin is difficult to imagine in anything other than a Penguins uniform
And Pagnotta weighs in on Jordan Kyrou on DFO Rundown: He’s kind of just waiting to see when that happens, is it between now and the 6th, or is it gonna be in the summer around the draft?
Mike Rupp on DFO Rundown regarding Jordan Kyrou and the New York Islanders: That would be the one team that I think can make it happen in-season, and they’ve got Cole Eiserman, someone that they would be, I think willing to move, and be part of a package.
Is Mike Milbury the General Manager on the Island again?
Renaud Lavoie on La Mise en Echec regarding Nazem Kadri and the Montreal Canadiens: Indeed, there is interest. But just because there’s interest doesn’t mean a trade will happen. In fact, it would be really unwise for the Canadiens to pursue that contract.
Lavoie doesn’t get nearly enough credit. He never resorts to throwing things at the wall to see what sticks, and the game could use more reporters with his consistency and purpose.
Chris Johnston from The Athletic: There was a time when Montreal might have held out hope Sidney Crosby would become available. That ship has now sailed. Surveying the list of other veteran centers available, they might not get a shot to add anyone better than Nazem Kadri.
Like Malkin, for a player so synonymous with a franchise, imagining Crosby in anything other than a Penguins sweater feels almost unthinkable.
Bruce Garrioch from the Ottawa Citizen: The Senators have a genuine interest in Calgary Flames defenseman MacKenzie Weegar to help the right side. We’re led to believe he would waive his no-move clause to suit up in his hometown.
Frank Seravalli on the Big Show throws his 2 cents in about Weegar: Not a lot, but I could see that heating up. The contract and cost control is pretty impressive.
Elliotte Friedman on Oilers Now: Nashville’s owner was here [Olympics], and I’ve just heard that he left. He went home, but I had a couple people tell me, watch some of their guys.
Barry Trotz announced on February 2, 2026, that he would retire and remain in his GM role through the March 6 trade deadline. From an ownership perspective, it’s fair to question whether a departing executive is the right person to be making deadline‑level decisions.
Trotz is widely respected across the league, and there’s little doubt he’d handle the job responsibly. But with the organization at a pivotal point, it’s fair to ask whether roster decisions should fall to the incoming general manager. As President of Hockey Operations, the final call will still rest with Trotz, but the timing raises legitimate questions about who should be shaping the club’s direction.
Friedman on 32 Thoughts regarding Adam Ruzicka: That’s a guy who kind of fell out of the NHL and you watch him now [for Slovakia] and you say, I could see someone calling.
Pagnotta talks Alex Tuck first on Leafs Morning Skate: There’s nothing going on there, nothing of progress anyway with Buffalo so far.
Pagnotta then on Daily Faceoff Live: The lines of communication are open, the door is open, but there just hasn’t been any significant progress to date.
This and That
Bruins prospect Elliott Groenewold, a 2024 fourth‑round pick and Quinnipiac blueliner, began the weekend sitting 10th all‑time in modern D‑I NCAA single‑season plus/minus and fourth best among defensemen. He was minus-2 on the weekend, temporarily knocking him out of the top-10.
I got a kick out of the back‑and‑forth on X between Darren Dreger and Dr. Harjas Grewal over the Crosby injury, mostly because watching a hockey insider criticize a doctor for “speculating” feels a bit rich when speculation is the backbone of the insider business — especially given how much contradictory guesswork those same insiders have churned out in recent weeks.
Dom - Hockey 