Six NHL Teams That Will Benefit The Most From The Olympic Break

It's been about a week since the NHL was put on pause for the Olympic break. While some players get to represent their country at the Games, others who won't be there will be able to rest and recover from the first chunk of the condensed regular season. 

When long breaks like this happen, there is often concern that the time off will have a negative effect on the players and require them to shake off the rust, but data doesn't support that. 

A 2023 report from Daily Faceoff indicated that 19 of 31 teams had points percentages of .500 or higher in their first three games after bye weeks (lasting eight to 11 days) from 2016-17 to 2019-20.

After the 4 Nations Face-Off break, a similar 18 of 32 teams recorded at least a .500 points percentage after their first three games back. Since rest doesn't seem to have a strictly negative effect, the teams with the fewest players travelling overseas should have the greatest benefit. 

Players at Olympics: Rasmus Dahlin and Tage Thompson

Initially, the Buffalo Sabres were meant to have three Olympic representatives, but that changed with the injury to goalie Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen. As unfortunate as the injury is, the break will allow Luukkonen to recover with minimal time away from NHL contests. 

Whether they're able to return right after the break or not, the paused schedule will also be useful for the seven other injured players: Jordan Greenway, Zach Benson, Josh Norris, Josh Dunne, Jiri Kulich, Justin Danforth and Conor Timmins. 

Once the team is rested, they should be set to continue their push for a playoff spot and try to break Buffalo's 14-season playoff drought, which they are on track to do as they sit in the first wild-card spot in the Eastern Conference.  

Player at Olympics: Martin Pospisil  

The Calgary Flames are having injury troubles of their own with Jake Bean, Blake Coleman, John Beecher and Samuel Honzek on injured reserve. Not only will this break give time for those players to heal, but it will give GM Craig Conroy time to think about how to continue with the team's rebuild. 

While Conroy can't officially make any moves during the break, he can still have conversations with potential suitors, preparing moves until the league's trade freeze is lifted on Feb. 22 at 11:59 p.m. EST. 

It helps that potential trade pieces, such as Nazem Kadri and Ryan Lomberg, aren't playing in Milan, so there won't be as many worries about even more injuries.

Player at Olympics: Teuvo Teravainen   

The Chicago Blackhawks are a young team and have the third-lowest average age of 26.39, according to eliteprospects.com. Playing 57 games in 122 days may have tired them out, as shown in the team's 3-7-2 record since Jan. 12. 

As a result, this time off could be very helpful for Chicago. The team's coaching staff has plans to use the time off for a mini training camp once NHL teams are allowed to practise again. Teams aren't allowed to hold practices until 2 p.m. ET on Feb. 17.

The Blackhawks will be capitalizing on most of the roster being healthy, with Colton Dach and Wyatt Kaiser being listed day-to-day going into the break.

Being 10 points out of a wild-card spot in the Western Conference means a playoff appearance is unlikely this season, but maybe a miracle can happen if the team makes good use of this time off.  

Players at Olympics: Elvis Merzlikins and Zach Werenski  

Since Rick Bowness replaced Dean Evason as coach, the Columbus Blue Jackets have only lost once in 11 games and went into the break on a seven-game win streak. 

This means the team can rest on a high note and can keep that momentum going into the final stretch of the regular season. The break will also allow Kirill Marchenko to get better from the illness that forced him out of the lineup in the Blue Jackets' final two games before the Olympics.

Columbus has the fourth-hardest schedule in the second half via strength of schedule, according to Power Rankings Guru, so they can't afford to have Marchenko or anyone out of the lineup, even briefly.

Players at Olympics: Leon Draisaitl, Connor McDavid and Josh Samanski

The Olympic break couldn't be coming at a better time for the Edmonton Oilers. It's been a rollercoaster of a season for them, going from a slow October and November to getting back into the playoff picture, only to head into the break with a three-game losing streak as their divisional opponents are only a few points behind. 

Fortunately for the Oilers, the team has the 10th-easiest remaining schedule. While that doesn't guarantee success, if they use the break to reset and put the ups and downs of the first 58 games behind them, they should be fine.

Players at Olympics: Bo Horvat and Ondrej Palat

After winning the NHL draft lottery in the summer and selecting Matthew Schaefer, the New York Islanders have played above expectations this season and can continue to do so with effective use of the time off.

Schaefer likely wishes he were competing in Milan with Team Canada, but the time off will help keep him fresh for the rest of the season after already playing more than double the games he played last season in the OHL and tournaments. The same goes for the rest of the roster, which has been relatively healthy for the last month or so.

The break will hopefully sustain this trend into the second half of the season, ensuring the Isles can hold onto their playoff spot.

Roderick Bawcutt is an intern with The Hockey News.

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