Here is the Feb. 5 edition of the weekly NHL.com mailbag, where we answer your questions asked on X and Bluesky. Send your questions to @drosennhl on X and @drosennhl.bsky.social on Bluesky, and tag it with #OvertheBoards.
Does Team Sweden adding Rickard Rakell to the 4 Nations roster increase the likelihood that Kyle Dubas tries to move him before the roster freeze? Also, any way my guy Bryan Rust gets a spot on Team USA? He very much deserves it. -- @baYsYckwrYteboY
There is no roster freeze during the break for the 4 Nations Face-Off. Teams have to remain cap compliant, and players are subject to trades and waivers. That doesn't mean there will be, but there can be transactions.
It's an interesting and fair question about Rakell because we have seen enough trades to buy into the fact that the upcoming break for the 4 Nations Face-Off, which begins after the two games Sunday, is being viewed as the first trade deadline of the season. It's a soft deadline and nothing has to be done in advance, but Mikko Rantanen, J.T. Miller and Mikael Granlund have been traded in the past week-plus and all are going to the tournament.
That doesn't mean Rakell's addition to Team Sweden's roster should make the Pittsburgh Penguins feel pressure to act on a potential trade involving the forward before the tournament starts. If the Penguins are interested in moving Rakell, they have to make sure it's the right return and can't act swiftly out of fear he could get injured at 4 Nations. It would be different if Rakell was in the last season of his contract and being dangled in trade talks as a rental. The risk goes up, especially if the plan would be to trade him rather than try to re-sign him, but he has three seasons left on his contract with a $5 million average annual value.
The Penguins don't have to be in any hurry to test his market value, even though the prudent thing would be to do just that because his value might be at its highest right now based on the season he's having. He's leading Pittsburgh with 24 goals and is second behind Sidney Crosby with 46 points after he had 37 points (15 goals, 22 assists) in 70 games last season. The Penguins don't want to punt entirely on this season with Crosby still playing at a high level, so they would have to be blown away by an offer involving Rakell and it doesn't make sense to use the 4 Nations break as a soft deadline for that. It's too soon.
As for Rust, it would obviously have to take a player having to pull out because of an injury or ailment for him to be added. He was likely on the short list of players who were the final cuts before the United States named its roster Dec. 4 and his familiarity with coach Mike Sullivan would likely give him an advantage if a replacement was necessary.