NHL Notes: NHL Back in the Olympics, BIG Trades, Bedard Still Betting Favorite, All-Star Draft, More

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02 February 2024

The NHL is heading back to the Olympics! What a way to kick off NHL All-Star weekend with such great news. We also saw our first blockbuster trade of the season a little over a month out from the deadline. We’ll cover that, a little Connor Bedard

NHL Notes

NHL Players Set To Return To Olympics

FINALLY! Best on best is back at the Olympics! For the first time since the Sochi 2014 Winter Olympics, NHL Players will be back on the world’s biggest international hockey stage! On Friday, the NHL is set to announce a 2025 Four Nations tournament which will include the United States, Canada, Finland, and Sweden. According to The Athletic‘s Chris Johnston, the NHL and NHLPA will also announce a return to the Olympics in 2026 in Milan.

I’m sure I speak for just about every hockey fan when I say this is AWESOME news. The USA vs Canada Gold Medal game in 2010 (I’m still sad) was one of the best hockey games of all time. The 2014 Sochi Olympics gave us some unreal moments like TJ Oshie’s epic shootout performance. The Winter Olympics were very much lacking juice and excitement, but the NHL’s return will bring that right back. Now here are highlights of TJ Oshie making an entire country proud:

Canucks Acquire Elias Lindholm from Flames

The NHL has its first big trade ahead of the March 8th trade deadline! The Canucks picked up 29-year-old forward Elias Lindholm in exchange for a 2024 first-round pick, Andrei Kuzmenko, Hunter Brzustewicz, Joni Jurmo, and a conditional 2024 fourth-round pick, the teams announced Wednesday night.

It’s a big-time move for the Canucks who currently lead the Western Conference with 71 points. Adding Lindholm is the ultimate “going for it” move for Vancouver. They’ve been in rebuild mode for the last few seasons, and this year they’re seeing that pay off. The price they paid to add Lindholm was steep, but he’s a perfect addition to that team and checks a lot of boxes. He can win faceoffs, play on the power play, kill penalties, and slot in just about wherever in that lineup Vancouver wants him to.

Lindholm is, however, a free agent at the end of this season and will be one of the top forwards of this class, so the likelihood of an extension seems low. It’s not that he won’t return, but it seems more likely than not that Lindholm would want to see what’s out there on July 1st. Given the return they sent to Calgary, this is a big gamble for the Canucks. But at some point, you have to go for it. And hats off to Vancouver GM Jim Rutherford, he went all in and backed his team.

Connor Bedard Still Calder Trophy Betting Favorite

Bedard is VERY good. We all know this. But over the last month, we’ve gotten another indicator of just how good he is. Bedard hasn’t played since January 5th in New Jersey when he broke his jaw on an unfortunate hit and then underwent surgery. Through his 39 games though, the first-overall pick had 33 points in 39 games. Playing at nearly a point-per-game clip with, let’s say not the most skilled linemates in the NHL, is quite an accomplishment as a rookie. It seems that those around the league agree.

If you’re into the whole sports betting thing, it may have crossed your mind to check out some Bedard Calder Trophy futures in case there was some value there since he’s hurt. Well, I looked for you, and unfortunately, there’s still not! Looking at just about every major sportsbook, Bedard is the betting favorite to take home Rookie of the Year at all of them. Despite the fact that he will end up missing close to two months, Bedard has been so damn good that he’s still probably going to end up winning the Calder.

So maybe this isn’t the biggest story, but I thought at the All-Star Break it would be fun to check in to where he’s at. I miss watching Bedard. As a Blackhawks fan and a season ticket holder, please come back soon Connor. Oh, and Kyle Davidson, keep up the good work, and go get the kid some talent to play with this offseason!

All-Star Weekend Is Here

NHL All-Star Weekend officially kicked off last night with the All-Star Draft in Toronto. Hometown favorites Auston Matthews and Morgan Rielly were the captains of one team. The other teams were captained by Connor McDavid and Leon Draisatil of the Oilers, Nathan MacKinnon and Cale Makar of the Avalanche, and brothers Quinn (Canucks) and Jack (Devils) Hughes. For the full draft order and results, you can head here.

I’m glad they brought the draft back. The last one was way back in 2015, and I always thought it was a lot of fun. It’s not the most compelling television in the world, but it’s an opportunity to see players in a bit of a different environment and have some fun together. Hopefully, it sticks around for a little while.

All-Star Weekend rolls along tonight with the Skills competition. The challenges include Fastest Skater, One-Timers, Passing Challenge, Hardest Shot, Stick Handling, Accuracy Shooting, One-on-One and the Obstacle Course. Here’s the full list of competitors for the night in each competition.

The weekend concludes on Saturday with the three-on-three tournament. I know they’ve been doing a three-on-three format for the All-Star Game for a while now, but I’m so happy they decided to do it this way. Five-on-five became such a joke. And while the players still aren’t really playing all that hard, three-on-three at least gives them enough time and space to try and pull off some cool stuff.

The LA Kings parted ways with head coach Todd McClellan this afternoon. The Kings got off to a pretty good start this season, but have really struggled as of late leading into the All-Star break. Since Christmas, LA is just 4-6-8 and they find themselves in a battle for a Wild Card spot. Currently, they’re the top Wild Card team with 56 points, but the Blues and Predators are nipping at their heels with 54 points and the Kraken sit at 52.

Another trade went down in the NHL today. Veteran center Sean Monahan is on the move to Winnipeg from Montreal. The Jets traded the Canadiens a first-round pick this year, and a conditional 2027 third rounder to get the deal done. Monahan is having a solid 2023-24 campaign with 22 points over 49 games including 13 goals. Monahan is also a two-way center that just about any playoff team would love to have in their lineup. Good move all around. Trade season is off to a fun start!

If the All-Star game isn’t your thing, and you’re going to be missing some real hockey this weekend, look no further than college hockey! It’s Rivalry Weekend in the Big Ten, and across the country, we have some pretty big games with several Blackhawks top prospects in action. Tab did a great job breaking down the schedule and providing a full viewing guide.