NHL Postpones Three More Games
The NHL has announced three more postponements, including two that involve the Colorado Avalanche and Dallas Stars. The following games will have to be rescheduled later in the season:
- Chicago Blackhawks @ Winnipeg Jets, December 29
- Dallas Stars @ Colorado Avalanche, December 29
- Colorado Avalanche @ Dallas Stars, December 31
There have now been 70 games postponed this season, most of them coming since December 13. As of now, the three other games scheduled for tomorrow are still on, though the Montreal Canadiens and Tampa Bay Lightning both had players enter the COVID protocol earlier today.
For the Avalanche, Blackhawks, and Stars, this means they will not play again until the new year. Winnipeg still has a game scheduled on December 31 against the Calgary Flames. Not only did Chicago see Marc-Andre Fleury enter the protocol today, but also several members of the Rockford IceHogs, including part of the coaching staff. The rampant spread of positive cases in the AHL is having a huge effect on their NHL affiliates, who haven’t been able to recall enough healthy bodies at times this season.
Jason Garrison Signs AHL PTO
The Syracuse Crunch have signed veteran defenseman Jason Garrison to a professional tryout contract, giving him a chance to play professional hockey for the first time in almost two years. Garrison last played for Djurgardens IF during the 2019-20 season.
More recently, Garrison had been helping the University of Minnesota-Duluth as a volunteer assistant coach while he finished his degree. He last played in the NHL during the 2018-19 season with the Edmonton Oilers, but after a trade took him to the Chicago Blackhawks where there was no room, he ended up terminating his contract to pursue an opportunity overseas rather than report to the AHL.
A veteran of more than 500 NHL games, Garrison is now 37 and likely not headed for full-time duty in the AHL. Theoretically, he could be in contention for the Canadian Olympic team though, should he prove to still be able to hold his own at the pro level. Players under AHL-only contracts will likely be eligible for the event, and Garrison’s PTO certainly wouldn’t preclude his participation. That does seem like a long shot at this point given his absence from high-level hockey, but he’s at least someone to keep an eye on. In 2014, Garrison represented Canada at the World Championship.
Several Golden Knights Enter COVID Protocol
Dec 27: Less than a week later, the Golden Knights have announced that Brett Howden and head coach Pete DeBoer are also now unavailable due to the COVID protocol. Vegas is supposed to play the Los Angeles Kings tomorrow night.
Dec 21: The Vegas Golden Knights and Tampa Bay Lightning are currently still scheduled to play this evening in the final game before the NHL’s holiday break, but not every player will be on the ice. Evgenii Dadonov and Alex Pietrangelo are both unavailable for the Golden Knights tonight due to the league’s COVID protocol.
Losing those two is obviously a huge blow, though the Golden Knights did have Nolan Patrick back at practice in a regular jersey today. Mark Stone also practiced in full. One of those two could potentially enter the lineup for Dadonov if they are ready, but it’s much more difficult to replace Pietrangelo given all that he does for the team.
The 31-year-old has logged almost 26 minutes a night this season for Vegas as the team tries to navigate through COVID absences and injuries, recording 22 points in 31 games in the process. That’s good enough for 10th among all league defenders, just ahead of teammate Shea Theodore who plays an equally important role.
Still, it’s obvious that the NHL wishes to get through as many games as possible before shutting things down for a few days. The Washington Capitals and Philadelphia Flyers were set to play each other despite several absences until a number of other positives were revealed today. Whether these two entering the protocol is enough for the league to postpone it remains to be seen. Regardless, Pietrangelo and Dadonov will miss several other contests if they have tested positive and are held out for a minimum of ten days. The Golden Knights are set to resume play on December 27 in the first half of a back-to-back.
Philadelphia Flyers Add Three To COVID Protocol
The Philadelphia Flyers have added Derick Brassard, Carter Hart, and Scott Laughton to the COVID protocol, making them unavailable for the time being. Max Willman, who had previously been in the protocol, was activated today and rejoined the team at practice. Jackson Cates, Gerald Mayhew, and Felix Sandstrom have been recalled to join the team’s taxi squad.
Losing Brassard and Laughton certainly isn’t ideal, but Hart is the biggest blow for the Flyers today. The young netminder has rebounded this season and carries a .918 save percentage through 19 appearances, carrying the majority of the load for the team. Martin Jones will now become the de facto starter for the time being, though the group in front of him is certainly not at full strength.
The Flyers are now at seven players in the COVID protocol, as Brassard, Hart, and Laughton join Kevin Hayes, Ryan Ellis, Sean Couturier, and Morgan Frost. Those are some pretty important names that could be unavailable when the team is scheduled to return to action Wednesday night.
Senators Add Several To COVID Protocol
Dec 27: Less than a week later the Senators have added Anton Forsberg to the protocol, leaving the team without any active goaltenders on the roster. With postponements already announced yesterday, the team is not scheduled to play again until Friday.
Dec 21: The Ottawa Senators have added goaltender Filip Gustavsson, head coach D.J. Smith, video coach Mike King and three members of the team’s support staff to the COVID protocol. While the team is doesn’t have any games left this week, absences like this could leak over into the post-holiday schedule.
While Smith’s availability is obviously important, it’s Gustavsson’s placement that might be the most disappointing. The young netminder certainly doesn’t need to miss any time during this crucial development season, his first with regular playing time in the NHL.
With him out, it will be interesting to see if Matt Murray gets the call back to the NHL, something the Senators had promised would eventually happen after he was sent down earlier this season. Murray has a .918 save percentage in the minor leagues, but it’s been in only two appearances as he has dealt with injuries.
The Senators already dealt with a serious outbreak earlier this season, hopefully, this one will remain contained to just a few people.
Hintz, Lindell Added To COVID Protocol
The Dallas Stars have two more names for the COVID list, as both Roope Hintz and Esa Lindell have been placed in the protocol. They join Jani Hakanpaa, who went in before Christmas, and Radek Faksa, Miro Heiskanen, Joel Kiviranta, Michael Raffl, and Jason Robertson who all entered yesterday. Two of the team’s support staff are also in the protocol.
Dallas is expected to return to action on Wednesday against the Colorado Avalanche, but like everywhere else in the league right now, that game could obviously be postponed at any moment. The Stars obviously have an outbreak of their own and are now down eight players from their active roster. That includes a huge swathe of defensemen, certainly making it difficult to field a competitive group in the coming days.
The team is practicing today but according to Saad Yousuf of The Athletic, it is closed to the media. The team is also not holding any media availability for the time being as they try to get things under control.
Pittsburgh Penguins Add Six To COVID Protocol
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
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
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
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.