When you think about it, we’re 18 active days until the NHL trade deadline.

Since the NHL will go into a trade freeze Feb. 4-24, that leaves limited time for teams to get active in the market. And it is slowly starting to get busier as a couple more deals were made this week, with Carson Soucy and Ondrej Palat going to the Islanders in separate deals.

In time, we’ll get a better idea how those moves work out in New York’s push for the playoffs.

But how have some of the trades made earlier this season panned out so far? There’s been one major blockbuster, a couple goalie swaps and some other notable moves that have had a major impact on the teams. With the exception of the Kiefer Sherwood trade — because he hasn’t yet played for the Sharks due to injury — here’s our overview of some of the more consequential deals that have happened so far.

Oilers acquire Connor Ingram from Mammoth, Oct. 1

Before the season started, the Edmonton Oilers already acknowledged they might need another goalie, but after back-to-back appearances in the Stanley Cup Final, they weren’t prepared to give up on Stuart Skinner — and there wasn’t a deep goalie market to fish in as training camps were winding down. So, they went to the bargain bin.

The Utah Mammoth had Karel Vejmelka as their well-paid starter and Vitek Vanecek as a well-travelled backup. Ingram, the youngest of the three, was on an expiring contract, in the minors and recently out of the NHL/NHLPA Player Assistance Program after entering it last March. He had been good in the past, but struggled with Utah in 2024-25 over 22 games.

With Skinner and Calvin Pickard already in the organization, the Oilers wanted Ingram for depth and a “call-up in case of emergency” option. That emergency came in December, when Tristan Jarry (more on him in a minute) was injured and the result has been a big success.

In 10 starts with Edmonton to this point, Ingram has a 2.40 goals-against average, .909 save percentage and 5-3-1 record. He would need to pass through waivers to go back to the AHL, but has been so good that’s just not an option and has left the Oilers carrying three netminders.

Given Edmonton gave up “future considerations” for the pending UFA Ingram and the Mammoth retained $800,000 on his contract, this move has been a major win for the Oilers.

Oilers acquire Tristan Jarry for Stuart Skinner, Dec. 12

Before Ingram got his first start with Edmonton, the team decided it had to make a major shift at the top of the goaltending depth chart. Skinner had a rough November and an old habit of not elevating when the team around him sagged.

Edmonton was once again enduring a slow start — though it had been through worse ones than this — and on the day of the trade the Oilers were holding the first wild-card spot. Funny enough, Skinner’s final days with Edmonton weren’t so bad, going 3-1-1 with a shutout over his final five starts. His last game in an Oilers jersey was a 4-1 win over Detroit.

If the Oilers did make a change at the top, the expectation was that Skinner would be moved out for a major upgrade, but stay as the backup or tandem partner to someone acquired in a lesser move. Jarry, it seemed, was more of the latter given his much smaller playoff history, larger injury history and general instability through his career. After all, Jarry had struggled so bad that he was put on waivers by the Penguins just last season.

The results, so far, seem to favour the Penguins.

Not only has Skinner been the better statistical performer, but Jarry also missed nearly a month to injury. Thankfully for Edmonton, Ingram has stepped up and helped pull it into a battle with Vegas for the divisional lead.

But, ever since this trade, the Penguins are ninth in the league with a .636 points percentage, while the Oilers are 13th at .609.

Wild acquire Quinn Hughes from Canucks, Dec. 12

The biggest trade of the season — and probably the biggest trade in years — came on a Friday evening and shook the hockey world. This, really, was Vancouver’s first step into the rebuild. Ever since this move, the Canucks have an NHL-worst .318 points percentage.

The Wild, however, have been thriving, going 13-5-5 since bringing Hughes aboard.

In Minnesota, Hughes has considered making a case for the Norris Trophy, and his 26 points in 22 games rank third among all defencemen since Dec. 12. He’s also averaging 28:11 per game (nearly half a game!) with the Wild, a minute and a half more than Columbus’ Zach Werenski. At five-on-five, Hughes has been on the ice for 32 Wild goals and 25 against, for a 56.14 goals for percentage that is tops among all regular Minnesota blue-liners.

It’s been a much different tale in Vancouver, of course. Marco Rossi, the key centre acquired in the move, started slow with two points in his first eight games and then got hurt and hasn’t played since Dec. 30. Zeev Buium has six points (four on the power play) in 20 games and the Canucks have been outscored 12-8 at five-on-five with him on the ice.

Canadiens acquire Phillip Danault from Kings, Dec. 19

The Habs reunited with the hometown checking centre after Danault spent the past five seasons with the Kings. When he was last playing for Montreal, Danault was an elite shutdown player who had a hand in getting the team to the 2021 Stanley Cup Final.

Upon returning, the now-32-year-old Danault is Montreal’s fourth-line centre and, though the team is outshooting opponents 95-90 when Danault is on the ice at five-on-five, it’s being outscored 14-9. Of course, Danault is not one to drive offence in the first place.

Danault has, however, won over 57 per cent of his face-offs, and a couple of those in the offensive zone have led directly to important goals for the Canadiens. Ultimately, his value to the team will be most important in the playoffs, where he’ll once again be looked to as an experienced defensive player who will surely face tough opponents.

Blue Jackets acquire Mason Marchment from Kraken, Dec. 20

It was no secret that the Kraken had been looking to move out pending UFA Marchment, but perhaps it was a bit of a surprise when he was acquired by Columbus on Dec. 20 while the Blue Jackets were sitting last in the Eastern Conference.

However, the Blue Jackets have been 11-5-1 since, though still eight points out of a wild-card berth (and six points out of third in the Metro). And Marchment has been a major contributing factor in that turnaround. Playing on the top line, Marchment had eight goals and 11 points in his first nine games with Columbus, which set a record for a newly acquired Blue Jacket.

Columbus acquired Marchment for second- and fourth-round picks, and is going to be facing a choice in the coming weeks. What will his price be at a re-sign, will he be viewed as an own-rental for a playoff push at this point, or could he be flipped again before March 6, if the Blue Jackets experience another short skid?

Penguins acquire Yegor Chinakhov from Blue Jackets, Dec. 29

Last summer, Chinakhov requested a trade out of Columbus due to “some misunderstandings with the coach during the season.” A move didn’t happen in the off-season and Chinakhov returned to the Blue Jackets for training camp. He played 29 games for Columbus this season and scored six points.

The Jackets had reportedly been looking for an NHL roster player in a trade involving Chinakhov, but that changed after they added Marchment a few days earlier. That meant Columbus could consider draft picks instead, and indeed got second- and third-round picks for him along with depth forward Danton Heinen.

Chinakhov was traded out of town 16 days before the Blue Jackets also made a coaching change to Rick Bowness.

There were times in his tenure with Columbus when Chinakhov was one of its best players. To start last season, he played on a dominant top line with Sean Monahan and Kirill Marchenko, but ultimately injuries and inconsistent play bumped him from that plum spot.

In Pittsburgh, Chinakhov has been an early success story on its second line. He has seven points in 13 games and is tied for a team-high five even-strength goals since joining the roster. Pittsburgh has been 10-2-2 since the deal and are second in the Metropolitan Division.

The least surprising trade of the season, Andersson joined the Golden Knights just a couple weeks before he joins Team Sweden at the Winter Olympics. In Vegas, he has teamed up with fellow former Flame, and former defence partner, Noah Hanifin.

It’s been a very small sample, with Andersson having played just three games in a Vegas jersey. At five-on-five, Vegas has been slightly outshot and outscored when Andersson has been on the ice, but it should be noted that one of these three games was a lopsided 7-1 loss to Ottawa.