A third-round pick in the 2021 NHL Entry Draft, Schmidt has spent the last two seasons playing with the Syracuse Crunch (AHL). Schmidt has zero goals and one assist in 13 AHL games this season and is yet to make his NHL debut.
A sixth-round pick in the 2021 NHL Entry Draft, Samson has spent the last three seasons playing with the Lehigh Valley Phantoms (AHL). The 22-year-old Samson has zero goals and four assists in ten AHL games this season and is yet to make his NHL debut.
Alexandrov was a second-round pick in the 2019 NHL Entry Draft. He played 28 and 23 games with the St. Louis Blues in the 2022-23 and 2023-24 seasons, respectively, but has exclusively been an AHL player since. He scored 14 points (3G / 11A) in 18 games with the Springfield Thunderbirds (AHL) this season.
Thomas was a second-round pick in the 2018 NHL Entry Draft but has been unable to make the jump into being a full-time NHLer. The 25-year-old forward scored three points (1G / 2A) while playing a career-high 25 games with the Los Angeles Kings last season.
Gilbert was a third-round pick back in the 2015 NHL Entry Draft and has been a journeyman throughout his career, unable to become a permanent fixture at the NHL level. The 29-year-old defenseman has 20 points (3G / 17A) in 111 career NHL games.
Guenette was drafted in the seventh round of the 2019 NHL Entry Draft by the Ottawa Senators. The 24-year-old defenseman scored 23 points (9G / 14A) in 58 games with the Belleville Senators (AHL) last season.
Kyrou was drafted 50th-overall by the Stars in the 2022 NHL Entry Draft. The 22-year-old Kyrou has yet to play an AHL game and could benefit from a change of scenery after struggling to establish himself at the AHL level. He had 15 points (4G / 11A) in 36 games with the Texas Stars (AHL) last season.
Tuomaala was drafted 46th-overall by the Flyers in the 2021 NHL Entry Draft. He has yet to play an NHL game, but has been effective at the AHL level. He scored 32 points (11G / 21A) in 46 games with the Lehigh Valley Phantoms (AHL) last season, and will provide a boost for a Texas Stars (AHL) team that has struggled offensively.
Reichel was a high-end prospect for the Blackhawks, drafted 17th-overall in the 2020 NHL Entry Draft, that has trouble acclimating to the NHL in the Blackhawks organization. The 23-year-old was regularly a healthy scratch and saw limited ice time. He scored 58 points (22G / 36A) in 174 career games with the Blackhawks and was off to a strong start in the 2025-26 season, scoring four points (2G / 2A) in five games.
Masters was a fourth-round pick, 118th overall, of the Minnesota Wild in the 2021 NHL Entry Draft. The 22-year-old defenseman has yet to play an NHL game. He spent most of the 2024-25 season in the ECHL, where he tallied 13 points (5G / 8A) in 27 games with the Iowa Heartlanders.
Olausson was the 28th-overall pick of the Colorado Avalanche in the 2021 NHL Entry Draft. The 22-year-old forward has been limited to only four career NHL games. He scored 26 points (11G / 15A) in 61 games with the Colorado Eagles (AHL) last season.
The Kings lost Copley at the beginning of the month to the Tampa Bay Lightning after placing him on waivers. However, with Darcy Kuemper (undisclosed) considered day-to-day, the Kings were in need of another goalie and re-acquired Copley from Tampa Bay via trade for future considerations. Copley is no stranger to the NHL, with 77 games of experience. The 33-year-old Copley spent the majority of the 2024-25 season in the AHL, tallying a 2.49 GAA and .904 SV% in 42 games with the Ontario Reign (24-17-1).
San Jose has acquired the contract of Ryan Ellis, and a 2026 6th-round pick from Philadelphia for Carl Grundstrom and Artem Guryev. Ellis is in the 7th year of an eight-year, $50 million contract, but is not eligible to play due to a significant back injury, making this trade a salary dump for Philadelphia. Ellis's last NHL appearance was in the 2021-22 season.
After clearing waivers a week ago, Connor Ingram has been acquired by the Edmonton Oilers for future considerations, with Utah retaining $800K of Ingram's $1.95M AAV. The 28-year-old is just one season removed from appearing in 50 games with Arizona in 2023-24 after struggling with his 9-8-4 record, 3.27 GAA and .882 SV% last season. Ingram was assigned to Bakersfield (AHL) after the trade but is expected to return to Edmonton at some point this season.
NHL trades are decided between two or more team general managers. The front office’s job is building a winning team. Building a winning team means discussing trades with other general managers across the league.
During the NHL regular season, players can be traded up until the trade deadline. The deadline is the official cutoff point for when teams can no longer make moves between each other. Players can also be traded throughout the offseason.
Teams trade players in hockey for a variety of reasons, but generally, it is done to find success, whether that is in the short term or long term. Teams may trade their top players in search of draft picks if they are undergoing a rebuild, whereas contending teams may look to acquire talent to boost their playoff chances.
Trades are a common occurrence throughout the NHL and happen often. Some years feature less trades than others, it all depends on each teams needs and the availability of attractive talent.
