Islanders face roster restrictions during the Olympic freeze. Key players stay put, impacting playoff push and trade deadline strategy.
The NHL's Olympic Roster Freeze will begin on February 4 at 3 pm ET and last through February 22 at 11:59 ET.
According to PuckPedia, during the freeze:
- No Trades are permitted
- Players can be sent down if they are waiver exempt, except for players that played in 16 of the team's 20 NHL games prior to the freeze, or have been on the NHL roster for 80 league days prior to Jan 21
- Players can be placed on waivers during the freeze, but if the player was waived after their NHL team's final game before the freeze, they do not have to report to their new team until February 17.
- There are no restrictions on sending players down prior to the freeze.
For the New York Islanders, this means Calum Ritchie -- who has missed the past five games with a lower-body injury -- is unable to be sent down to Bridgeport in the American Hockey League since he has been on the NHL roster since October 31st, 2025, 82 days before Jan 21.
The only two other waiver-exempt players currently on the NHL roster are Matthew Schaefer and Maxim Shabanov, who have each been on the NHL roster for the entire season.
With the Islanders having just one game left before the 19-day break and sitting just four points ahead of the Columbus Blue Jackets for a playoff spot, the front office will have plenty of time to evaluate the future ahead of the final stretch of the season and the March 6 trade deadline.