Headlines

Go To MLB Trade Rumors
Go To Hoops Rumors

Archives for December 2021

Pittsburgh Penguins Add Six To COVID Protocol

at CDT | by Leave a Comment

The Pittsburgh Penguins have announced that Teddy Blueger, Tristan Jarry, John Marino, Mike Matheson, Evan Rodrigues, and Dominik Simon have all been added to the COVID protocol and are currently unavailable. Jake Guentzel will also miss practice with a non-COVID illness.

Losing those six is obviously a huge blow, but it wasn’t all doom and gloom at Penguins practice today. Bryan Rust and Evgeni Malkin both took the ice in regular black sweaters, indicating they’ve been cleared for full contact and are approaching a return to action.

Pittsburgh is on a seven-game win stream and has climbed their way back into the Metropolitan playoff mix, sitting now just four points out of first place. While they will now have to patchwork a lineup together, the rest of the NHL is in a similar boat. Malkin hasn’t played yet this season after undergoing offseason surgery and should offer a significant boost when he does return to the lineup. Rust, meanwhile, missed all of December and has played in just 12 games so far.

Washington Capitals Announce COVID Absences

at CDT | by Leave a Comment

The Washington Capitals have made a number of transactions in response to several players entering the COVID protocol. The team has announced that Daniel Sprong, Justin Schultz, Nick Jensen, Vitek Vanecek, Dennis Cholowski, and Martin Fehervary are all unavailable due to COVID protocol. Pheonix Copley and Michal Kempny have been recalled to the active roster, while Lucas Johansen, Alex Alexeyev, and Brett Leason have all been assigned to the taxi squad.

The Capitals are scheduled to play on Wednesday night against the Nashville Predators, but now are now without a good chunk of their roster. Evgeni Kuznetsov and Nicklas Backstrom were on the ice for practice, according to J.J. Regan of NBCS Washington, a good sign that they will be eligible to return for the upcoming game.

With the COVID absences continuing across the league, however, the schedule is certainly not written in ink. The Capitals, like any other team, will have to wait and see whether their upcoming games are affected.

Marc-Andre Fleury Added To COVID Protocol

at CDT | by Leave a Comment

The Chicago Blackhawks have recalled Collin Delia from the AHL after Marc-Andre Fleury entered the COVID protocol. The team has also activated Calvin de Haan from the protocol while moving Brett Connolly to the taxi squad.

Chicago is set to resume their season on Wednesday against the Winnipeg Jets, but it appears as though Fleury will not be available to them. The reigning Vezina Trophy winner has been good of late, raising his season save percentage to .913 in the process. Though he’s 9-10-1 overall, Fleury went 4-1-1 in December and helped the Blackhawks climb out of the league basement.

Delia meanwhile has played in just nine games this season, all at the AHL level. The 27-year-old undrafted netminder once looked like he might be part of the future in Chicago, but has regressed in recent seasons and has just a .907 for the Rockford IceHogs this year. Still a capable fill-in, it remains to be seen how the Blackhawks navigate the goaltending position with Fleury out. Kevin Lankinen figures to get the start on Wednesday should the game proceed as planned.

Cirelli, Sustr Placed In COVID Protocol

at CDT | by Leave a Comment

So much for Andrej Sustr’s recall to the taxi squad. The veteran defenseman and Anthony Cirelli have both entered the COVID protocol, the Tampa Bay Lightning have announced this morning.

That takes the number to six players and two coaches for the Lightning, as Sustr and Cirelli join Mikhail Sergachev, Andrei Vasilevskiy, Brian Elliott, and Pierre-Edouard Bellemare along with Jon Cooper and Rob Zettler in the protocol. Joe Smith of The Athletic reports that like the others, the two newcomers are either asymptomatic or have experienced minor symptoms to this point.

Interestingly enough, the Lightning had some good news at practice, as Nikita Kucherov and Brayden Point were both present and skating together on a line with Alex Killorn. While Tampa Bay deals with plenty of other absences, they are also getting closer to getting two key players back.

With Tampa and Montreal both adding players to the protocol today, it’s unclear if the game tomorrow is going to be played. As of now, the Canadiens are still scheduled to fly to Florida and have made recalls to fill out a lineup.

Taxi Squad Shuffle: 12/27/21

at CDT | by Leave a Comment

The taxi squad is back! As of yesterday and through the All-Star break, teams are once allowed to carry a few extra players with them as they try to navigate a tricky schedule. There are several restrictions in place to stop teams from using it as a cap haven, but there will still likely be daily transactions to and from the extra designation. As those come in, we’ll keep track of them right here.

Atlantic Division

  • The Tampa Bay Lightning have recalled Andrej Sustr and Darren Raddysh to the taxi squad, where they will be available at a moment’s notice. Sustr especially has nothing to prove in the minor leagues, given he has more than 330 NHL games under his belt to this point.  Later in the day, they recalled goaltenders Maxime Lagace and Hugo Alnefelt as well as defenseman Sean Day from AHL Syracuse to fill in for their players in COVID protocol including their goalie tandem.
  • The Toronto Maple Leafs recalled Joseph Woll, Filip Kral, Carl Dahlstrom, Kyle Clifford, and Alex Biega to their taxi squad, filling it up with some experience as they try to get their own COVID situation under control. Toronto has basically the entire organization–NHL and AHL–in the protocol at the moment, though a few names are expected to exit it today.
  • The Detroit Red Wings have assigned Riley Barber, Dan Renouf, Luke Witkowski, and Victor Brattstrom to the taxi squad. The team received good news today when several players and coaches exited the COVID protocol, meaning these taxi squad types may not be needed right away.

Metropolitan Division 

  • The Columbus Blue Jackets have recalled Joshua Dunne and Tyler Sikura to the taxi squad. The pair of minor league forwards have combined for 19 points at the AHL level this season but add some size and experience to the traveling party. The Blue Jackets don’t play until Thursday after seeing another game postponed.
  • The New Jersey Devils have assigned Marian Studenic to the taxi squad, where he can help fill in during the current COVID situation. Studenic has played in nine games this season for New Jersey but is still looking for his first point.

Central Division

Pacific Division

  • The Anaheim Ducks have announced their initial taxi squad, assigning Lukas Dostal, Jacob Larsson, Vinni Lettieri, Greg Pateryn, and Buddy Robinson to it for the time being. The four skaters all have experience at the NHL level, while Dostal is the most realistic depth goaltending option in the organization.
  • Jacob Moverare and Martin Frk are the taxi squad for the Los Angeles Kings, at least to start. The 23-year-old Moverare has been recalled before, but is still waiting for his first taste of NHL game action. Frk, a veteran who has spent most of his career in the minor leagues, is off to another outstanding start in the AHL, scoring 13 goals and 26 points in 21 games with Ontario.

This page will be updated throughout the day

NHL Announces More Postponements

at CDT | by 19 Comments

The NHL has officially announced the temporary formation of taxi squads and three additional postponements. The following games will be rescheduled for later in the season:

  • Columbus Blue Jackets at Chicago Blackhawks, December 28
  • Pittsburgh Penguins at Toronto Maple Leafs, December 29
  • Boston Bruins at Ottawa Senators, December 29

The other games scheduled for Tuesday are set to play as originally planned, though there will be continued testing that could change that. Frank Seravalli of Daily Faceoff writes that more players are expected to be placed in the COVID protocol tomorrow when test results have been confirmed.

In addition to the postponements, the league has officially revealed the new taxi squad rules. As previously reported, they will be in place from today through each team’s final game prior to the All-Star Break. It will have a maximum of six players at any time, will be subject to normal waiver requirements and no player may spend more than 20 cumulative days on the taxi squad.

There have also been temporary modifications to the CBA, allowing some salary cap relief for clubs dealing with COVID absences. Roster Emergency Exception recalls are now allowed to be players with a cap hit of up to $1MM (previously it had been limited at $850K). Teams can now recall a goaltender under emergency conditions–i.e. if they have fewer than two goaltenders on the active roster–without playing a game short. That means we won’t continue to see EBUGs pop up around the league (or at least not as often).

The full changes can be found here.

Tuukka Rask Weeks Away From Potential Return

at CDT | by Leave a Comment

When the Boston Bruins hit the ice today for the first practice after the holiday break, there was a familiar face leading the group. Tuukka Rask was the first player on the ice according to Fluto Shinzawa of The Athletic, despite the veteran goaltender still not having a contract with the team.

Asked after practice, head coach Bruce Cassidy told reporters that Rask is still a couple of weeks away from being ready to return to action. Tracey Myers of NHL.com writes that January 18 could be that return, though there are still medical–and contractual–hurdles to overcome before then.

Rask underwent hip surgery in the summer to repair a torn labrum but has been back on the ice for weeks now, working out at the Bruins facility. While he technically is an unrestricted free agent and could sign with anyone, the goaltender has been very clear about his intentions to finish his career in Boston.

Now 34, Rask would certainly add a lot of experience to the goaltending room for the Bruins, though it’s unclear what role he would be brought back for. Jeremy Swayman and Linus Ullmark have both been very good lately, raising their save percentages to .917 and .922 respectively for the season.

Importantly, Swayman is still waiver-exempt and could be sent to the minor leagues, but does not appear eligible for the newly recreated taxi squad given his role on the team through the first part of the season. Rask would need to pass through waivers in order to go to the taxi squad, so that’s not an option for him either.

The answer to those questions doesn’t have to be given for a little while longer, but it appears as though Rask will in fact officially return to the Bruins at some point in the next few weeks.

Two Seattle Kraken Enter COVID Protocol

at CDT | by Leave a Comment

The Seattle Kraken tweeted Sunday evening that forward Ryan Donato and defenseman Vince Dunn entered the NHL’s COVID-19 protocol.

They join defensemen Carson Soucy, Adam Larsson, and Jamie Oleksiak on the protocol list for the Kraken.

Dunn’s been Seattle’s most productive defenseman in their inaugural season, posting 12 points through 28 games. Donato’s been fairly productive too after joining the team on a one-year deal, scoring eight goals and 13 points in 28 games.

If they’re confirmed positive tests, they’re likely out for Seattle’s next four games and could return January 5th.

NHL And NHLPA Recreate Taxi Squads Through All-Star Break

at CDT | by 6 Comments

6:00 pm: The NHL has officially reintroduced the taxi squad system through the All-Star Break, per CapFriendly. Like last season, there is a six-player maximum to the taxi squads. However, there are some slight changes. Non-emergency-recalled-players who were on an NHL active roster, injured reserve, or NHL non-rostered on December 22 aren’t eligible to go on the taxi squad. Waiver-exempt players aren’t eligible, either, and neither are players who’ve dressed in 16 of their team’s past 20 games. There are other minor stipulations as well.

1:15 pm: Amidst a rapidly escalating number of players being unavailable due to their placement in COVID protocols, the NHL and NHLPA are working on a few different short-term solutions, reports Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman (Twitter link).  Among those is the recreation of taxi squads which would be optional for teams to use and would run through the All-Star break in early February.

The taxi squads were in use for all of last season with a record number of daily transactions occurring as teams shuffled players back and forth.  Some were to keep players fresh and seeing game action in the minors while many were simply to get players off the salary cap on days where they weren’t playing.  Assuming those same rules were to apply this season, there will be considerable activity on that front once again.

Of course, there are other considerations at play. AHL teams are already starting to have their rosters stretched thin due to outbreaks and recalls for players either in COVID protocol or out due to injury.  There would be short-term pressures at the lower minor league levels with many ECHL players signing AHL deals, creating holes for the ECHL teams to fill and so on.

Friedman notes that there are other options being discussed as well.  Cap-exempt emergency recalls with a player making less than $1MM is apparently on the table and that price point – which sits $250K above the minimum salary – is high enough for most teams to be able to call players up without much issue.  Meanwhile, with several teams having to turn to emergency backups on one-day contracts – commonly referred to as EBUG’s – Friedman reports that teams may soon be allowed to simply recall a replacement netminder rather than having to have an EBUG dress for a game first to trigger a cap-exempt recall situation.

An official announcement on the schedule, as well as any changes to protocols such as these, is expected later today.

Arizona Coyotes Place Two In COVID Protocol

at CDT | by Leave a Comment

Arizona Coyotes forward Christian Fischer and defenseman Ilya Lyubushkin entered the NHL’s COVID-19 protocol today, per a team tweet.

They become the fifth and sixth additions to Arizona’s COVID list. Liam O’Brien, Alex Galchenyuk, Jay Beagle, and Lawson Crouse.

Arizona, for the time being, is losing out on some solid defensive presences. Fischer had three goals and three assists through 22 games before entering protocol, and he’s one of the better defensive forwards on the Coyotes, though, and a skilled penalty killer. His presence there will be missed.

Lyubushkin had six assists through 29 games, and while he was averaging just 18:08 per game, he’s a good defender at even-strength.

Fischer and Lyubushkin, if they’re truly COVID positive, are eligible to return January 6 against Chicago if they’re healthy.

Pro Hockey Rumors is not affiliated with National Hockey League, NHL or NHL.com

scroll to top