New Year may bring new faces to some teams — The Fourth Period
TORONTO, ON — As we usher in 2026, the race for post-season play is as tight as ever with just six teams in the West bellow .500 and four points separating the final wildcard spot in the East from the last place team in the conference.
With a limited seller’s market – for now – across the NHL, some teams aren’t willing to wait too much longer before filling needs.
Minnesota got the ball rolling this season, taking a giant swing and acquiring Quinn Hughes from Vancouver, Montreal addressed the need for help up the middle by landing defensive centre Phil Danault, and Columbus added some extra secondary scoring in Mason Marchment from Seattle. What’s next?
Clubs like San Jose, St. Louis, Nashville and the Canucks have accepted their fate, to an extent, and remain willing to listen on a number of their players, both on expiring contracts and under term. Calgary isn’t there yet, though as of today I still believe Rasmus Andersson, at the very least, will be dealt by the March 6 trade deadline.
With plenty of attention already focused on big names like Brayden Schenn, Justin Faulk, Jordan Kyrou, Steven Stamkos, Ryan O’Reilly, Jonathan Marchessault, Mario Ferraro, Conor Garland and Kiefer Sherwood, there are several Kraken players who may be on the move later this season.
Like Marchment, forwards Jordan Eberle, Jaden Schwartz and Eeli Tolvanen, and defenceman Jamie Oleksiak, are all eligible to become unrestricted free agents July 1, 2026. I’ve been told Seattle GM Jason Botterill is expected to talk contracts with all four of their representatives at some point after the calendar flips – and those conversations could pick up further during the Winter Olympic break – but there is a willingness to entertain trade calls on each of them.
The Kraken have won four straight and are sitting at a .528 points percentage, which puts them in the final wildcard spot in the West based off that stat – they are currently one point back of the Sharks with two games in hand. Even if Seattle continues to hover in the wildcard race, I believe Botterill is future-thinking and is not afraid to move out one of his veterans if it benefits the long-term success of the club.
Eberle owns a full no-trade clause, while both Oleksiak and Schwartz each have a 16-team no-trade list as part of their contracts.
Another forward, Jared McCann, owns a 10-team no-trade list and the Kraken have explored moving him in the past. He has one more year remaining on his contract after this season wraps at a $5M AAV.
The Chicago Blackhawks may be another interesting club to keep tabs on, as they have six pending UFAs on the roster, all of whom will garner interest – Nick Foligno, Jason Dickinson, Sam Lafferty, Connor Murphy, Matt Grzelcyk and Ilya Mikheyev. It goes to show you how valuable Connor Bedard is to this club (he returned to practice this morning).
With January 1 a few days away, the halfway point in the NHL is also fast approaching, and soon the NHL’s Olympic freeze kicks in at 3pm ET on Feb. 4, 2026, and lifts at 12:01am on Feb. 23, 2026.
We will see some activity over these next five weeks, but how much will be up to which GMs feel they have a legitimate shot at making the playoffs and ultimately deciding the juice is worth the squeeze.
