January 17 and 18: ECHL All-Star break

Tony Cameranesi is scheduled to attend to represent the Orlando Solar Bears.  He is currently on the Marlies roster and playing very well, but he was tearing up the ECHL before his call-up.  The event fits in before the next Marlies game.

January 27-30: NHL All-Star break

Auston Matthews is scheduled to attend to represent the Toronto Maple Leafs. The game is on the 29th.

Teams may not hold practices during the break until 2 p.m. local time on the 30th.  Teams may only travel on the 27th or 30th if necessary due to their schedule.

January 29 to February 1: AHL All-Star break

Kasperi Kapanen and Brendan Leipsic are scheduled to attend to represent the Toronto Marlies.  Kapanen is unlikely to be available due to injury.

February 28: NHL trade deadline The correct date per NHL.com is March 1.  There are many sites listing either February 27 or Frebruary 28, so there is a lot of incorrect information out there.  Apologises for the mistake.

The deadline is 3 p.m. New York time, and several things hinge on that moment.

  • NHL trades must be registered before then.
  • After that time, no players may be loaned to the AHL except those players who are on recall from the AHL.
  • Waiver rules apply through the end of the regular season, and players claimed off of waivers after this date are not eligible for NHL playoffs.
  • No players not on the AHL roster at that time may play in the AHL playoffs. The result is often a lot of paper roster moves to and from the AHL.
  • The 23-man roster limit is lifted as of that time, and teams may recall any number of players in the lead up to the playoffs.  These are the so-called Black Aces. /

The Leafs are in San Jose on February 28, and play the Kings on March 2, so deadline day sounds like beach day for them.

April 9: Last day of NHL season

The Leafs are at home to Columbus.

April 15: Last day of the AHL season

The Marlies are on the road in St. John’s.