NHL rumblings: Will Olympic trade freeze create a mini deadline? Plus, Landeskog timeline, more

The impact of the Olympics on the NHL this season isn’t only being felt in the condensed schedule but also in the cadence of trade planning.

There’s a trade freeze coming during the Olympic break, going into effect at 3 p.m. ET on Feb. 4, right through 11:59 pm ET on Feb. 22.

What remains to be seen is how that Feb. 4 mini-deadline ahead of the actual March 6 trade deadline will affect things.

I’m hearing from an increasing number of buyers and contenders that they’re learning toward waiting until after the Olympic trade freeze to make their most impactful moves. The reason is two-fold: 1) They might be targeting a player who’s going to play in the Olympics and want to make sure he’s not injured in Milan; and 2) Those same playoff contenders also have players headed to Milan and want to make sure if they suffer an injury there, they have time to pivot on their deadline needs post-Olympics.

There are 12 days after the Olympics to work with ahead of the actual trade deadline.

So that’s fine if you’re a team that can afford to wait that long to make your No. 1 add. But some teams can’t afford that. Whether it’s because of injuries or being in need of a season-saving move, we’re also going to see deals between now and Feb. 4 because some teams that haven’t given up on the year have to plug holes as soon as possible and can’t afford to wait until after the Olympics. It might be too late by March 6 to save their season.

That could be a team like the Toronto Maple Leafs trying to add on defense, for example. The Leafs have renewed calls around the league looking to bolster their blue line, TSN colleague Darren Dreger reported on our “Insider Trading” segment Tuesday evening. Losing Chris Tanev again has intensified those efforts.

So while I think the bigger moves overall may wait until after the Olympics, some teams will be forced to act in the next few weeks with smaller transactions.

Landeskog not ruled out for Olympics

Sweden’s Olympic team is holding its breath on the status of captain Gabriel Landeskog, who was injured Sunday night.

The good news is that it wasn’t his knee, which required multiple surgeries and kept him out for three years. It’s an upper-body injury instead after crashing into the net in Florida.

The bad news is that it will still keep him out for a number of weeks. The Colorado Avalanche say the Olympics have not been ruled out, but time is needed to see how the healing process goes. There is no official, firm timeline. There will be an assessment made after a few weeks before more is known about Landeskog’s timeline for recovery.

“We are monitoring the situation closely and hoping Gabe’s recovery goes as planned,” Sweden head coach Sam Hallam told The Athletic via text message Tuesday.

Landeskog, who did get the chance to play in the Olympics in 2014, and Victor Hedman are the faces of leadership for Sweden. The fact that both aren’t 100 percent sure for Milan is a tough situation.

After undergoing elbow surgery on Dec. 15, the Lightning say Hedman is expected back in early February, just before players are set to go to Milan. The hope is that Hedman will come back in time to play a game or two before the Olympic break. But nothing is for sure at this point.

Here’s hoping Sweden gets both Landeskog and Hedman healthy for Milan. Both those guys have waited a long time for this Olympic opportunity.

Ekman-Larsson on the ‘highs and lows’

I asked Oliver Ekman-Larsson on Tuesday to bring himself back to the summer day in 2023 when the Vancouver Canucks bought him out of his contract. And to imagine what his reaction would have been in that low moment if someone had told him he’d be Olympic-bound less than three years later.

“Oooh, putting me on the spot here,’’ Ekman-Larsson, 34, responded. “Throughout your career, you go through tough times, and it’s like life — you go through tough times in life, too. But I think that’s kind of the moments that define you. You realize how many good people you have around you. That’s why I’m standing here today, because I have that support around me. My family and everybody.

“There’s highs and lows. That’s life. That’s why you keep fighting and you keep trying to get better every single day, and that’s the mindset I’ve had throughout the years.”

Ekman-Larsson said he remembers watching with his grandparents on TV when Sweden won Olympic gold in Torino 20 years ago.

“I was on the floor crying, I think,” he smiled.

He won silver with Sweden in 2014. Now he’s got a chance at turning that into gold next month.

It’s wild to think that Florida got him on a one-year, $2.25 million deal on July 1, 2023, after his buyout from Vancouver. That one year in Florida, winning a Cup, reset his career.

“That helped me a lot to get my confidence back,” Ekman-Larsson said. “I’m very thankful for that and the guys that I played with there. It got me back to feeling good and feeling part of something. So that’s something that I’m going to bring with me the rest of my life.

“You’ve got to be a little bit lucky in life, too. I did that (going to Florida) at the right time. It’s funny how it works.”

Lundell’s Finland role

No one has been more impacted by the loss of Aleksander Barkov this season than Anton Lundell.

He’s playing a bigger role than ever in Florida and is easily on pace to eclipse his career highs in goals, points and time on ice. His days of being a third-liner are over. And the Panthers have this guy for $5 million per year through 2029-30.

Next month in Milan, Finland is going to count on him big time, too, with no Barkov in the lineup. So that massive injury, which is especially brutal for Suomi, is being felt twice by the 24-year-old Panthers center.

I have a feeling Lundell is going to have some Olympic moments next month we’ll be writing about, though.

“I’m super excited,” Lundell told me Tuesday, his face lighting up when asked about going to Milan. “To play in a tournament like that is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity. It’s something I’ve been working for my whole life. It’s always felt so far away, and now I’m on the team.

“The team is great. Very similar team to 4 Nations last year. In terms of experience and learning, I’m sure (playing in 4 Nations) will help us as a team going to the Olympics now. Best-on-best is something you dream of as a fan, as a player.”

About the Atlantic …

We all know that the cream of the crop this year sits atop the Central Division, with the Colorado Avalanche, Dallas Stars and Minnesota Wild all bona fide Cup contenders, distancing themselves from the pack.

But there is something to be said for what’s happening in the Atlantic Division so far this season, at least in terms of the parity of it. All eight teams are still in it.

Rebuilding programs such as the Detroit Red Wings and Montreal Canadiens have shot up the ranks this season. The forever-doormat Buffalo Sabres just had a 10-game win streak. And the Tampa Bay Lightning have found their Cup-contending groove despite a massive list of injuries, getting their eighth straight win on Tuesday — and over the Avalanche no less.

“Tampa has done a miraculous job with their injuries,” Florida head coach Paul Maurice said Tuesday.

Oh, yeah, and don’t forget the two-time-defending champion Panthers, who have been better over the past month after struggling through key injuries over the opening two months. They’re getting their mojo going again.

“I think the Atlantic Division is better than people think it is,” Maurice said. “There’s no bottom end to our side. There just isn’t.”

The way he sees it, the Atlantic Division race will be a “scratch and claw” to the end of the year.

But as far as the Red Wings and Habs, in particular, announcing themselves as ready to contend for the division title, the two Florida teams aren’t ready to enter the final lap of their glory years, either.

“I don’t feel that Florida or Tampa has jumped the shark here,” Maurice said with his knowing smile. “I just think there’s other good teams. They did — they were open about it: ‘We’re going to rebuild.’ While it was painful years, and then it stops being bad and you’re a really good team.

“There’s just a whole bunch of really good teams.”

Maurice also made a point of singling out Colorado from the West. The Panthers have played them twice this season.

“They beat us in Colorado, 6-2. It could have been 12-2, and I don’t think they got it out of second gear,” Maurice said. “That, to me, is the team that we’ve seen is head and shoulders above us. But we’ve got 41 games to get better.”

What he forgot to mention, I’m sure on purpose, was that the defending champs just beat those Avs 2-1 on Sunday.

And Matthew Tkachuk is on the mend. Here come the Panthers.