<p>The 4 Nations Face-Off tournament is upon us as the NHL will take a two-week break to showcase the very best Canada, USA, Finland and Sweden have to offer. Trade talks are heating up in a major way, and so too, unfortunately, is the injured reserve, as there have been several key injuries felt throughout the league.</p>
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<p>From trade candidates, buyers, sellers, and some key injury updates, here&#8217;s the very latest from around the NHL:</p>
<h2>Chicago Blackhawks&#8217; Ryan Donato becoming prime trade candidate</h2>
<p>According to Elliotte Friedman of Sportsnet, the Blackhawks have been receiving trade interest on centre Ryan Donato, with multiple Canadian teams being involved. Donato is having a fine season for the struggling Blackhawks, recording 19 goals and 37 points in 53 games.</p>
<p>Donato is a pending unrestricted free agent, who makes just $2 million against the cap. Because he&#8217;s so inexpensive, Blackhawks GM Kyle Davidson would be wise to try and cash him in as a rental for a contending team, and land a top prospect in return.</p>
<p>The 6-foot Donato plays a &#8216;bigger&#8217; game than his size suggests. He&#8217;s landed 89 hits on the year and isn&#8217;t shy to throw his weight around. Donato&#8217;s been mediocre in the faceoff circle, sitting at 46% for the year, and he&#8217;s averaged 15:02 of ice time per game, seeing time on the Blackhawks&#8217; second power-play unit. Friedman points out the Edmonton Oilers are hot on Donato&#8217;s tail, meanwhile, he&#8217;s certainly <a href="https://theleafsnation.com/news/bargain-trade-target-the-hildeby-long-game-and-the-pointlessness-of-staged-fights-leaflets">someone who will be</a> on Maple Leafs GM Brad Treliving&#8217;s target list, which likely includes 10-15 middle-six centres. Here&#8217;s more from Friedman on Donato&#8217;s trade interest:</p>
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet">
<p dir="ltr" lang="en">From Saturday Headlines, <a href="https://twitter.com/FriedgeHNIC?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@FriedgeHNIC</a> says he believes some of the Canadian teams have expressed interest in Ryan Donato. Mentions the Oilers specifically.<a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/Blackhawks?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#Blackhawks</a><br />
(🎥<a href="https://twitter.com/Sportsnet?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@Sportsnet</a>) <a href="https://t.co/Fly45Ewfh7">pic.twitter.com/Fly45Ewfh7</a></p>
<p>— CHGO Blackhawks (@CHGO_Blackhawks) <a href="https://twitter.com/CHGO_Blackhawks/status/1888415021874467280?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">February 9, 2025</a></p></blockquote>
<h2>Canucks&#8217; Quinn Hughes out for 4 Nations Face-Off</h2>
<p>Injuries always suck, but especially right now for any player looking to represent his country at the 4 Nations Face-Off tournament. Vancouver Canucks announced that captain Quinn Hughes won&#8217;t suit up for Team USA at the two-week tournament, due to a lower-body injury.</p>
<p>The Canucks&#8217; captain has missed the last four games with a lower-body injury and didn&#8217;t feel it was in his team&#8217;s best interest to try and play through it, and risk further, and more serious injury.</p>
<p>The Canucks are in a race for a wild-card position in the Western Conference and have been re-energized since moving J.T Miller to the New York Rangers. Hughes has recorded 14 goals and 45 assists for 59 points in 47 games this year, and there have been times throughout the NHL season when Hughes may have been the best player on the planet. While there are many Americans who will be disappointed the two-way blueliner isn&#8217;t trying to play through it, Canucks fans can relax a bit knowing Hughes will use the two-week break to get back to 100%.</p>
<p>Team USA added Ottawa Senators&#8217; defenceman Jake Sanderson to replace Hughes, who will be representing his country for a fifth time in his career, also doing so for the 2018-19 U17 World Hockey Championship, the 2024 World Championships, the 2020-21 World Juniors and the 2022 Olympics.</p>
<h2>Islanders lose Mat Barzal for 6 weeks</h2>
<p>New York Islanders forward Mat Barzal is expected to be at out least six weeks after undergoing a procedure on his injured kneecap. Barzal blocked a shot against the Tampa Bay Lightning on Feb.1, and unfortunately will now spend time on the injured reserve.</p>
<p>This is the second significant injury for Barzal this season, already having missed 21 games earlier in the year with an upper-body injury. Barzal&#8217;s recorded 20 points in 30 games so far this year, on an Islanders team who are as streaky as anyone in the league.</p>
<p>The Isles are 7-3-0 in their last 10 and have climbed to just four points back of the Detroit Red Wings. GM Lou Lamoriello has a slew of trade candidates he could be shipping out, as it&#8217;s going to be interesting to see how Lamoriello handles his roster with his team so close to a playoff spot.</p>
<h2>Trade talks picking up around the NHL</h2>
<ul>
<li><a href="https://x.com/NHLNetwork/status/1888029985144713291">Stefan Rosner of The Hockey News reports</a> the Islanders are looking to re-sign Brock Nelson, while in surprising fashion, have put right-handed defenseman Noah Dobson on the trade block before the deadline on March 7. Word is Lamoriello wants a top-line scorer in exchange for his top-pair d-man.</li>
<li>Word is the St. Louis Blues are looking for a massive return for captain Brayden Schenn, but from all accounts, it does sound like they will be open to the trade if a team is willing to ante up. For the Leafs, think at least one of Fraser Minten and Easton Cowan, and plus, plus.</li>
<li>Our very own Steven Ellis named <a href="https://www.dailyfaceoff.com/news/top-5-under-the-radar-2025-nhl-trade-deadline-armia-frederic-jones">five under-the-radar trade candidates</a> to keep an eye on ahead of the deadline, they included Joel Armia in Montreal, Trent Frederic and Justin Brazeau in Boston, Brian Dumoulin in Anaheim, and Zac Jones in New York.</li>
<li>Nashville Predators&#8217; pending free-agent forward Gustav Nyquist knows the NHL is a business, and fully understands if he gets traded for a third time before the deadline this season.</li>
<li>While the Maple Leafs have interest in Scott Laughton in Philadelphia, the <a href="https://www.dailyfaceoff.com/news/toronto-maple-leafs-winnipeg-jets-among-teams-interested-philadelphia-flyers-scott-laughton">report also included</a> the Winnipeg Jets, who have shown in the past they aren&#8217;t shy about going all in ahead of the deadline. If the Leafs pull this off, it feels like Minten is 100% heading to the Flyers.</li>
<li>New York Rangers goaltender Igor Shesterkin is expected to miss 1-2 weeks with an upper-body injury.</li>
<li>Sabres&#8217; Dylan Cozens continues to draw trade interest from around the league, including <a href="https://theleafsnation.com/news/maple-leafs-should-make-significant-trade-offer-sabres-dylan-cozens">the Leafs</a>, with the Calgary Flames, and <a href="https://x.com/LGRWProspects/status/1877713635641815448">Detroit Red Wings</a> listed as two teams to keep an eye on.</li>
</ul>
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The 4 Nations Face-Off tournament is upon us as the NHL will take a two-week break to showcase the very best Canada, USA, Finland and Sweden have to offer. Trade talks are heating up in a major way, and so too, unfortunately, is the injured reserve, as there have been several key injuries felt throughout the league.
<div class="bam-inline-promotion-block" data-max-length="2" data-placement-id="2106" data-context="web-content-promocard" data-property-id="324"></div>
From trade candidates, buyers, sellers, and some key injury updates, here's the very latest from around the NHL:
<h2>Chicago Blackhawks' Ryan Donato becoming prime trade candidate</h2>
According to Elliotte Friedman of Sportsnet, the Blackhawks have been receiving trade interest on centre Ryan Donato, with multiple Canadian teams being involved. Donato is having a fine season for the struggling Blackhawks, recording 19 goals and 37 points in 53 games.

Donato is a pending unrestricted free agent, who makes just $2 million against the cap. Because he's so inexpensive, Blackhawks GM Kyle Davidson would be wise to try and cash him in as a rental for a contending team, and land a top prospect in return.

The 6-foot Donato plays a 'bigger' game than his size suggests. He's landed 89 hits on the year and isn't shy to throw his weight around. Donato's been mediocre in the faceoff circle, sitting at 46% for the year, and he's averaged 15:02 of ice time per game, seeing time on the Blackhawks' second power-play unit. Friedman points out the Edmonton Oilers are hot on Donato's tail, meanwhile, he's certainly <a href="https://theleafsnation.com/news/bargain-trade-target-the-hildeby-long-game-and-the-pointlessness-of-staged-fights-leaflets">someone who will be</a> on Maple Leafs GM Brad Treliving's target list, which likely includes 10-15 middle-six centres. Here's more from Friedman on Donato's trade interest:
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet">
<p dir="ltr" lang="en">From Saturday Headlines, <a href="https://twitter.com/FriedgeHNIC?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@FriedgeHNIC</a> says he believes some of the Canadian teams have expressed interest in Ryan Donato. Mentions the Oilers specifically.<a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/Blackhawks?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#Blackhawks</a>
(🎥<a href="https://twitter.com/Sportsnet?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@Sportsnet</a>) <a href="https://t.co/Fly45Ewfh7">pic.twitter.com/Fly45Ewfh7</a></p>
— CHGO Blackhawks (@CHGO_Blackhawks) <a href="https://twitter.com/CHGO_Blackhawks/status/1888415021874467280?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">February 9, 2025</a></blockquote>
<h2>Canucks' Quinn Hughes out for 4 Nations Face-Off</h2>
Injuries always suck, but especially right now for any player looking to represent his country at the 4 Nations Face-Off tournament. Vancouver Canucks announced that captain Quinn Hughes won't suit up for Team USA at the two-week tournament, due to a lower-body injury.

The Canucks' captain has missed the last four games with a lower-body injury and didn't feel it was in his team's best interest to try and play through it, and risk further, and more serious injury.

The Canucks are in a race for a wild-card position in the Western Conference and have been re-energized since moving J.T Miller to the New York Rangers. Hughes has recorded 14 goals and 45 assists for 59 points in 47 games this year, and there have been times throughout the NHL season when Hughes may have been the best player on the planet. While there are many Americans who will be disappointed the two-way blueliner isn't trying to play through it, Canucks fans can relax a bit knowing Hughes will use the two-week break to get back to 100%.

Team USA added Ottawa Senators' defenceman Jake Sanderson to replace Hughes, who will be representing his country for a fifth time in his career, also doing so for the 2018-19 U17 World Hockey Championship, the 2024 World Championships, the 2020-21 World Juniors and the 2022 Olympics.
<h2>Islanders lose Mat Barzal for 6 weeks</h2>
New York Islanders forward Mat Barzal is expected to be at out least six weeks after undergoing a procedure on his injured kneecap. Barzal blocked a shot against the Tampa Bay Lightning on Feb.1, and unfortunately will now spend time on the injured reserve.

This is the second significant injury for Barzal this season, already having missed 21 games earlier in the year with an upper-body injury. Barzal's recorded 20 points in 30 games so far this year, on an Islanders team who are as streaky as anyone in the league.

The Isles are 7-3-0 in their last 10 and have climbed to just four points back of the Detroit Red Wings. GM Lou Lamoriello has a slew of trade candidates he could be shipping out, as it's going to be interesting to see how Lamoriello handles his roster with his team so close to a playoff spot.
<h2>Trade talks picking up around the NHL</h2>
<ul>
 	<li><a href="https://x.com/NHLNetwork/status/1888029985144713291">Stefan Rosner of The Hockey News reports</a> the Islanders are looking to re-sign Brock Nelson, while in surprising fashion, have put right-handed defenseman Noah Dobson on the trade block before the deadline on March 7. Word is Lamoriello wants a top-line scorer in exchange for his top-pair d-man.</li>
 	<li>Word is the St. Louis Blues are looking for a massive return for captain Brayden Schenn, but from all accounts, it does sound like they will be open to the trade if a team is willing to ante up. For the Leafs, think at least one of Fraser Minten and Easton Cowan, and plus, plus.</li>
 	<li>Our very own Steven Ellis named <a href="https://www.dailyfaceoff.com/news/top-5-under-the-radar-2025-nhl-trade-deadline-armia-frederic-jones">five under-the-radar trade candidates</a> to keep an eye on ahead of the deadline, they included Joel Armia in Montreal, Trent Frederic and Justin Brazeau in Boston, Brian Dumoulin in Anaheim, and Zac Jones in New York.</li>
 	<li>Nashville Predators' pending free-agent forward Gustav Nyquist knows the NHL is a business, and fully understands if he gets traded for a third time before the deadline this season.</li>
 	<li>While the Maple Leafs have interest in Scott Laughton in Philadelphia, the <a href="https://www.dailyfaceoff.com/news/toronto-maple-leafs-winnipeg-jets-among-teams-interested-philadelphia-flyers-scott-laughton">report also included</a> the Winnipeg Jets, who have shown in the past they aren't shy about going all in ahead of the deadline. If the Leafs pull this off, it feels like Minten is 100% heading to the Flyers.</li>
 	<li>New York Rangers goaltender Igor Shesterkin is expected to miss 1-2 weeks with an upper-body injury.</li>
 	<li>Sabres' Dylan Cozens continues to draw trade interest from around the league, including <a href="https://theleafsnation.com/news/maple-leafs-should-make-significant-trade-offer-sabres-dylan-cozens">the Leafs</a>, with the Calgary Flames, and <a href="https://x.com/LGRWProspects/status/1877713635641815448">Detroit Red Wings</a> listed as two teams to keep an eye on.</li>
</ul>
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