Alex Ovechkin ‘has to accept’ he won’t play in 2018 Olympics, says Russian hockey president

With the expansion trade/waiver freeze approaching, the Wild was one of the intriguing teams to watch, given their surplus of defensemen — not to mention the fact they still don’t have a pick in the first two rounds of the NHL Entry Draft. It had been previously reported that Wild general manager Chuck Fletcher had received “quality offers� for defensemen Mathew Dumba and Jonas Brodin. Yet, Minnesota didn’t make a move prior to the 3 p.m. ET deadline on Saturday. You’ll recall a couple of weeks ago, it was believed Minnesota and the Boston Bruins were involved in ongoing trade talks, and Brodin’s name had been floated out there as a possible fit in Boston, which had been in the market for a top-four puck-moving defenseman.

These are huge games for three of these four teams.