Anaheim Ducks Add Two Players, Staff Member To COVID Protocol
The Anaheim Ducks announced via Twitter on Sunday afternoon that left wing Max Comtois, center Sam Steel, and a staff member entered the NHL’s COVID protocol.
Comtois had just been cleared to return to the lineup after missing nearly a month with a hand injury. The 22-year-old Canadian has really struggled to produce offensively this season, garnering only one assist through 14 games.
Steel’s solidified a role in the lineup after some healthy scratches early in the season. The 23-year-old has four goals and four assists in 25 games.
The Ducks previously had no extra healthy skaters on the roster. Expect a series of recalls soon from the AHL’s San Diego Gulls.
Comtois and Steel will likely miss Anaheim’s next four games and could return on January 6 against the Detroit Red Wings.
Los Angeles Kings Activate Drew Doughty, Place Two In COVID Protocol
Defenseman Drew Doughty has exited the NHL’s COVID protocol, but the Los Angeles Kings added right wing Dustin Brown and defenseman Olli Maatta to the list today, per a team tweet.
In a corresponding move, the team assigned center Alex Turcotte, their fifth-overall selection in the 2019 NHL Draft, to the taxi squad. Centers Quinton Byfield and Phillip Danault as well as goalie Cal Petersen remain in COVID protocol.
Doughty’s faced multiple injury and health concerns this season, but he’s been extremely productive for the Kings when in the lineup. He’s averaging 24:49 per game and has 13 points through 11 contests, and his return to the lineup will be hotly anticipated.
Brown has just four goals through 30 games and Maatta has struggled to stay in the lineup this year, but it’s still a hit to the Kings’ depth. They’ll likely miss the Kings’ next three games and are eligible to return on January 6 against the Nashville Predators.
New York Rangers Add Three To COVID Protocol
The New York Rangers added defensemen Patrik Nemeth and Ryan Lindgren as well as goaltender Alexandar Georgiev to the NHL’s COVID protocol, the team announced via a tweet Sunday afternoon.
New York was one of the few teams without any players in COVID protocol entering today. With left wing Artemi Panarin and defensemen Nils Lundkvist currently unavailable, expect multiple recalls from the AHL’s Hartford Wolf Pack prior to the Rangers’ next game — if it happens. Their next scheduled contest is on December 29 against the Florida Panthers, who placed four players into COVID protocol today.
Lindgren and Nemeth had combined for just six points this year, but Lindgren’s been an integral piece of the Rangers defense on a pairing with superstar Adam Fox. He’s averaging 20:20 per game and leads the team in +/-. Nemeth has been solid enough in a third-pairing role as well.
Georgiev had struggled between the pipes to begin the season but was on a recent heater with more starts due to Igor Shesterkin‘s injury. He’s worked his way back up to a .902 save percentage on the year.
Nemeth, Lindgren, and Georgiev will be out for the Rangers’ next four games. If healthy, they’ll be eligible to return to the lineup on January 6 against the Vegas Golden Knights.
Philadelphia Flyers Add Sean Couturier, Ryan Ellis To COVID Protocol
The Philadelphia Flyers announced Sunday that center Sean Couturier was placed in the NHL’s COVID protocol on December 21, while defenseman Ryan Ellis and two staff members entered protocol today.
There are now five Flyers skaters in COVID protocol, joining forwards Kevin Hayes, Morgan Frost, and Max Willman.
Couturier, after hovering near a point-per-game pace for the last three seasons, has just six goals and 11 assists for 17 points in 29 games this year (0.59 points per game). Despite that, he’s still averaging over 20 minutes of ice time per game and is steady as ever defensively.
Ellis was already out of the lineup with a lower-body injury, but was expected to return around the holiday break. Injuries have limited him to just four games this season, his first with the Flyers after arriving via trade from the Nashville Predators.
Couturier will miss the next two of Philadelphia’s games and could be eligible to return on New Years Day against the Los Angeles Kings. Ellis, as he was just added today, will miss more time. If healthy, he could return on January 6 against the Pittsburgh Penguins, missing the team’s next four games at the least.
2021 Spengler Cup Cancelled Due To COVID-19
The 2021 Spengler Cup won’t be taking place due to COVID-19 cases affecting teams within the tournament, per The Hockey News’ Steven Ellis.
The tournament was set to begin tomorrow, December 26th. A severe number of cases today within the NL’s HC Davos organization, the hosts of the tournament, forced the cancellation after the Canadian national squad and HC Ambri-Piotta (NL) also backed out.
The Spengler Cup is the world’s oldest invitational hockey tournament, including six teams every year including Team Canada and HC Davos. This year, Frolunda HC (SHL), HC Slovan Bratislava (Slovak Extraliga), KalPa (Liiga), HC Sparta Praha (Czech Extraliga), and the Bern Selects were also scheduled to participate.
It’s the second straight year that the tournament has been cancelled due to COVID-19.
NHL Extends Holiday Break, Postpones December 27th Games
The NHL announced per a tweet Friday evening that all games scheduled to take place on Monday, December 27 are postponed in order to provide for adequate COVID-19 testing results after teams return from the holiday break.
Teams are still permitted to return to practice on Sunday, December 26.
There were 14 games scheduled to happen on Monday. Only the Chicago Blackhawks, Montreal Canadiens, New York Islanders, and Tampa Bay Lightning are unaffected by these postponements.
The league said in their press release today that a further update on their return to play plans will come on Sunday. If an additional rash of positive tests come in that weekend, it’s exceedingly likely that further postponements will happen.
50 games had already been postponed this year, bringing the total number of postponements to 64.
Czechia Announces Final Roster For 2022 WJC
After their pre-tournament game against Switzerland was cancelled yesterday due to COVID-19 concerns, Czechia has named their final roster for the 2022 World Junior Championships which begin in earnest on December 26.
Two names in particular of note on this team are David Jiricek and Jiri Kulich, who are both eligible for the 2022 NHL Draft. Jiricek is a likely top-ten and potential top-five selection come July, and a good tournament could help solidify that positioning. He’s actually serving as an assistant captain for the team along with 19-year-old undrafted Michal Gut. Montreal Canadiens prospect Jan Mysak was announced as the team’s captain earlier in the week.
Jiricek is impressing this season with five goals and six assists in 29 games with HC Plzen in the Czech Extraliga. Kulich, a likely second- or third-round selection, has seven goals and four assists with Karlovy Vary in the Extraliga.
The Czechs will be watched intently by Columbus Blue Jackets fans, as they carry a pair of talented prospects in defenseman Stanislav Svozil and forward Martin Rysavy. Svozil somewhat unexpectedly fell to the third round in 2021 where Columbus drafted him 69th overall. He’s done well in his first season in North America, posting a goal and 17 assists in 26 games with the WHL’s Regina Pats. Rysavy, a seventh-rounder in 2021, has five goals and 11 assists in 28 games with the WHL’s Moose Jaw Warriors.
Toronto Maple Leafs Place William Nylander In COVID Protocol
The Toronto Maple Leafs tweeted out this afternoon that the team placed right wing William Nylander into the NHL’s COVID-19 protocol.
Nylander becomes the seventh forward and 13th Maple Leaf on the protocol list. Morgan Rielly entered protocol just yesterday.
John Tavares, Alexander Kerfoot, Ilya Mikheyev, David Kampf, Wayne Simmonds, Jason Spezza, Rasmus Sandin, Travis Dermott, T.J. Brodie, Jack Campbell, and Petr Mrazek round out the rest of the COVID absences for Toronto.
In all likelihood, this means that Nylander won’t be available if the team resumes playing next week. The 25-year-old Swede is enjoying his best season to date, posting 13 goals and 18 assists for 31 points in 30 games while playing 18:47 per game.
With Nylander now out, when Toronto hits the ice again, it’ll likely give a chance for players like Kyle Clifford and Joey Anderson to get back onto the active roster and play some games.
IIHF Cancels U18 Women’s World Championship, Other Events
Dec 24: The IIHF has made it official, canceling six tournaments for January. President Luc Tardif released the following statement:
These are hard facts to have to face, and as with last year we must take the difficult decision to cancel men’s and women’s IIHF events, including the women’s U18 top division now for the second year in a row.
It is the consensus of the IIHF Medical Committee that the organizers would not have the capability to manage an outbreak of the virus, especially with the rapid transfer of the Omicron variant that we have seen in the NHL and other leagues.
Dec 23: ESPN’s Emily Kaplan reported today that the International Ice Hockey Federation is cancelling all of its events scheduled for January 2022 due to the continued spread of COVID-19, including most notably the U18 Women’s World Championship for a second straight year.
Other cancelled events are the Division IIB and Division III Men’s World Junior Championships and the Division IA, 1B, and Division II U18 Women’s World Championships.
It’s worth noting that this cancellation does not affect the current Men’s World Junior Championship in Edmonton and Red Deer, where pre-tournament games got underway today. It was also held last year in a bubble format, while the U18 Women’s Championship was cancelled.
Last year’s U18 Men’s Championship was not affected, and as of now, the IIHF still plans to hold the 2022 U18 Men’s Championship in April.
Colorado Avalanche Could Look For Added Defense Depth
Despite being tied for the best points percentage in the Western Conference at the holiday break, the Colorado Avalanche haven’t had their ideal start to the 2021-22 season. The team was expected by many to be far and away the best team in the Central Division, but a gigantic rash of injuries to core players has limited them this year.
They’re definitely not alone in that fact, but a few long-term injuries on defense and some concerning numbers from their goaltenders leave the Avalanche with the sixth-most goals against in the conference (91). That’s why The Athletic’s Peter Baugh suggests in a mailbag piece that the team could look to add on defense if the injury situation there doesn’t improve.
Colorado expected both Bowen Byram and Ryan Murray to play some meaningful minutes this year supplementing one of the best 1-2-3 punches in the league on the back end with Cale Makar, Devon Toews, and Samuel Girard. They’re both out for indefinite periods of time.
A logical trade partner for them is the Toronto Maple Leafs, who have a logjam on defense and are looking to ship out a player to create some roster and salary cap flexibility. Both Justin Holl and Travis Dermott could be moved out, and there’s a decent chance Colorado looks at one of these players.
Holl’s really struggled on both sides of the puck this season (just one assist in 24 games) and was healthy scratched for a few games, but he is playing over 20 minutes a night on one of the better teams in the league. He’s also just one season removed from posting solid defensive results on a shutdown pair with Jake Muzzin. While he hasn’t been able to find that consistency this year, a change of scenery could benefit Holl, who’d also give Colorado some cost certainty as he’s signed through 2023.
There’s also the matter of Dermott, who’s likely a more attractive trade option for Colorado. He’s four years younger than Holl and while he too has struggled offensively (just two points in 19 games), he’s been much less mistake-prone than Holl this year and provides more upside. He’s also signed through 2023 for $500,000 less than Holl, an appealing prospect for a contending and spending team like Colorado.