US Olympic gold medal-winners asking for trades shakes up the NHL landscape

What happened in Milan did not stay in Milan. It may have changed the course of NHL history.

Since the U.S. won gold at the Olympics in February, three members of that team asked for a trade and another was the subject of serious trade talk that did not materialize. Brady Tkachuk asked out of Ottawa and wound up in Florida to play with brother Matthew; Connor Hellebuyck could soon join him crossing the border after going public with his trade demand to leave Winnipeg; and Dylan Larkin’s future in Detroit is in limbo following his desire for a fresh start.

Zach Werenski, who remains in Columbus, and fellow Americans on that team laugh at the idea that their group chat orchestrated all this. It is a bit of a coincidence it happened at the same time, but players get why people are making the connection between the trade requests and the Olympics.

“If you look at it from an outsider’s perspective, like I understand it because it’s like a lot of American guys, obviously, and the whole situation with the Olympics and winning and guys asking out and whatnot,” Werenski said. “For a lot of us, that gold medal was the first taste of winning, and I think that’s just what amplifies in your mind is like, ‘I want to do this more.’”

Larkin has declined to share which teams he’s willing to be traded to, would not say if his request to be moved still stands or if he wants to stay with the team. The Red Wings own the longest active playoff drought in the league, having not made it since Larkin’s rookie year in 2015-16, a first-round exit.

In Hellebuyck’s 10 years in Winnipeg, the Jets have not been past the second round since 2018 and he criticized team leadership after last season came to a close without a trip to the playoffs. He has said only that “moving on” is best for him and his family.

Tkachuk was the Senators’ captain and brushed off the notion that his request had anything to do with wanting to play in the U.S. instead.

“I wouldn’t say there’s a big differential from Canada to (the) U.S.,” Tkachuk said. “I think every individual’s thought process, decision is a little bit different.”

Teaming up with his brother makes the move more understandable to U.S. Olympic teammate and ex-Senators teammate Jake Sanderson.

“The way I look at it, I’m not surprised that Brady would want to go play with his brother,” Sanderson said. “I don’t think anybody should be surprised, so I don’t blame him for that.”

For Werenski, it is about chasing the Stanley Cup. He won the Norris Trophy as the league’s top defenseman last season but in a decade with the Blue Jackets have made the playoffs just five times and advanced only once.

“You see your friends having success and guys winning Cups and you’re so happy for them, but you want that to be you,” Werenski said. “You put so much work in and so many hours and time and all this and you want to be in those games and have a chance at it, right? There’s a lot of great players that will never win a Stanley Cup. But you want a crack at it. You want a chance to play for it.”

There has been plenty of buzz about the Hughes brothers wanting to play together like the Tkachuks; they’ve said so. Quinn, who was dealt across the border from Vancouver to Minnesota in December before starring for the U.S. in Milan, does not have a contract beyond this season and could soon become the highest-paid player in the NHL, with the Wild or elsewhere.

“It is my life: I’m not going to do anything to make someone else happy,” Hughes said. “Everyone’s got to do what makes them happy, and then where the chips fall, they fall.”

The hockey landscape could look much different a year from now, depending on what Hughes does and if U.S. Olympic captain Auston Matthews decides he’d like a change of scenery. On Wednesday, Matthews said his intent was always to stay in Toronto, and he has two years left on his contract.

Larkin and Hellebuyck each have five seasons remaining on deals signed in 2023. Despite being signed long term, each took the risk of asking for a trade.

“Players now, I feel like, hold a whole lot of the cards,” said Buffalo’s Tage Thompson, who played with them at the Olympics. “And if they feel like it’s the best decision for them, that’s, I think, the route players are starting to go.”

Werenski said he’s happy where he is. Sanderson affirmed he’s good in Ottawa, where he’s signed through 2032.

What happens to others with gold medals displayed in their homes remains to be seen. But golden goal-scorer Jack Hughes doesn’t attribute this trend to what he and his teammates accomplished.

“Even if the Olympics happened or didn’t, I think those things would still unfold how they did with the guys that are requested to leave or whatever happened,” Hughes said. “But definitely pretty funny with how everything shook out.”

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