NHL announces some changes and the official date for the 2023-24 trade deadline

The trade deadline is a day where almost anything can happen. If your team is a buyer, there's a level of excitement and intrigue over which player your team might bring in. If your team is a seller, sometimes, it means saying goodbye to a player you like a lot and doing your best to focus on the return and the impending rebuild.

Last season, the trade deadline fell on March 3rd, but there were 12 games on the schedule, meaning that teams were very distracted both in their off-ice plans and in preparing for games. This year, however, there will be a significant change.

The League has officially announced the date for this year's trade deadline, which will occur on March 8th. Also, the NHL has scheduled just 4 games to take place this time around, none starting earlier than 9:00 PM ET, to allow teams to focus more on the work that they need to do rather than the game that is quickly approaching.

The bonus in all of this is that it could mean a much busier trade deadline than we're used to seeing, and while it's still a long ways away, it's certainly a date worth circling on your calendar.