Five NHL trades of big-named players we’d like to see in 2023
New York TimesThe Athletic has live coverage of the NHL trades with the latest news, deals and analysis. The NHL holiday roster freeze is over, New Year’s Day is just around the corner and the first handful of teams will reach the midpoints of their seasons next week already. Winnipeg, meanwhile, is one of the NHL’s most pleasing surprises — in the running for the top spot in the Central Division, even though Nik Ehlers has played just two games this year, Blake Wheeler is out indefinitely — and now, one of their top young players, Cole Perfetti, is injured as well. And with Toews contributing far more on the ice this year than he did a year ago, suddenly, a top nine that includes him, plus one of the most quietly distinguished duos in the league this year — Kyle Connor and Pierre-Luc Dubois — to supplement the exceptional goaltending they’re getting from Connor Hellebuyck and a Norris Trophy-caliber season from Josh Morrissey … that would be an interesting dangerous mix. But that really doesn’t make sense and if the Blues do go shopping from the Ducks’ defensive player list, a far more reasonably priced option would be the former Blues player, Shattenkirk, who was a popular figure in the St. Louis dressing room and way back in the day, was Vladimir Tarasenko’s first NHL roommate on the road, when Shattenkirk, Tarasenko and Alex Pietrangelo were the only three players on entry-level contracts in the organization.