COVID Protocol Related Absences: 02/13/21
Each day, the NHL will publicly release the list of players that are unavailable to their respective teams due to being in COVID-19 protocol. On a positive note, no new players have been put on the list, but quite a few have been removed from the list. The Los Angeles Kings list is being put together now, but there has been a report from John Hoven that both Blake Lizotte and Andreas Athanasiou are both off the list:
Arizona – John Hayden
Buffalo – Dylan Cozens, Rasmus Dahlin, Curtis Lazar, Jake McCabe, Casey Mittelstadt, Brandon Montour, Tobias Rieder, Rasmus Ristolainen
Colorado – Samuel Girard, Tyson Jost, Gabriel Landeskog
Detroit – Calvin Pickard
Los Angeles – TBA
Minnesota – Nick Bonino, Jonas Brodin, Ian Cole, Brad Hunt, Victor Rask, Carson Soucy, Nico Sturm, Cam Talbot
New Jersey – Nathan Bastian, Jesper Bratt, Connor Carrick, Eric Comrie, Nikita Gusev, Nico Hischier, Jack Hughes, Dmitry Kulikov, Damon Severson, Ty Smith, Matt Tennyson, Sami Vatanen, Travis Zajac
NY Rangers – Filip Chytil
Philadelphia – Justin Braun, Morgan Frost, Claude Giroux, Travis Sanheim, Jakub Voracek, Scott Laughton, Oskar Lindblom*
Tampa Bay – Steven Stamkos
Vegas – Tomas Nosek
As a reminder, inclusion on this list does not mean that a player has tested positive for Coronavirus or even that they have been confirmed as a close contact to another positive person. Included in the NHL’s list of possible reasons for someone being on the list is are the following:
(1) an initial positive test which remains unconfirmed until confirmatory testing is completed pursuant to the Positive Test Protocol; (2) mandated isolation for symptomatic individuals pursuant to the Positive Test Protocol; (3) required quarantine as a high-risk close contact in accordance with the Positive Test Protocol; (4) isolation based on a confirmed positive test result and/or; (5) quarantine for travel or other reasons as outlined in the COVID-19 Protocol
Players removed today: Taylor Hall (Sabres), Ryan Carpenter (Chicago), Andreas Johnsson (Devils), Janne Kuokkanen (Devils), Michael McLeod (Devils), Kyle Palmieri (Devils), Pavel Zacha (Devils); Anthony Duclair (Panthers), Jesse Puljujarvi (Oilers), , Marcus Johansson (Wild), Jared Spurgeon (Wild), Joel Eriksson Ek (Wild), Nick Bjugstad (Wild)
Four Minnesota Wild Players Return From COVID Protocol List
The Minnesota Wild were cleared a couple days ago to return to team activities and look ready to resume their season on Tuesday against Los Angeles. Now the team announced that it has gotten back four of its players off the COVID protocol list, including forwards Nick Bjugstad, Joel Eriksson Ek and Marcus Johansson as well as defenseman Jared Spurgeon.
All four players were on the list since Feb. 3. The team had 13 players on the list as of two days ago, so the team needed some of them back soon if they want to have a competitive team. The Wild last played on Feb. 2, falling to Colorado in a 2-1 loss.
Eriksson Ek finally looks to have turned a corner in his fourth full season with the Wild. He posted career highs a year go with eight goals and 29 points, but it looks like he’s figured things out with five goals and nine points in nine games so far this year. Bjugstad, acquired for a conditional seventh-round pick at a bargain rate from Pittsburgh during the offseason, has found a full-time role with the team, playing in 11 games and scoring two goals and three points in a bottom-six role. Johansson, also acquired this offseason in a swap with Buffalo for Eric Staal, has two goals and three points in nine games.
The biggest return will be the team’s captain in Spurgeon. who is averaging 22:13 of ATOI this season and will be key heading up the team’s blueline. Of course, Spurgeon and Johansson are still dealing with upper-body injuries that could keep them out of the lineup for a few days still, according to Sarah McLellan of the Star Tribune.
Injury Notes: Tarasenko, Zuccarello, Werenski
Vladimir Tarasenko was back on the ice with his teammates today when the St. Louis Blues hit the ice in Arizona, a great sign as he continues to recover from his latest shoulder surgery. On February 3, Blues GM Doug Armstrong told reporters that his Russian sniper was still weeks away, but things were promising. Seeing him in a regular practice jersey with his teammates indicates that his return isn’t as far away as it once seemed.
When he is healthy enough to return, the question will be how exactly the Blues fit him in. The team is currently more than $7MM into their long-term injured reserve relief and though Alex Steen‘s $5.75MM cap hit covers a lot of that, adding Tarasenko back onto the books won’t be easy. That has led to the trade chatter surrounding Vince Dunn increasing again, this time with some additional cap-clearing motivation.
- Speaking of West Division forwards that are coming back from offseason surgery, the Minnesota Wild had Mats Zuccarello back at practice for the first time today, according to Michael Russo of The Athletic. Zuccarello is only in the second season of a five-year, $30MM contract for the Wild, meaning his return to form would be a crucial boost for a team fighting to make the postseason. At his best, Zuccarello has been a top playmaking winger that can elevate the performance of his linemates. Whether the 33-year-old can get back to that level is not at all clear.
- Zach Werenski is expected to be back in the lineup on Saturday against the Chicago Blackhawks, or at least that is what Columbus Blue Jackets head coach John Tortorella implied to reporters today, including Aaron Portzline of The Athletic. Werenski has missed the last three games with a lower-body injury and is off to a rather slow start this season with just four points in 12 games. After scoring 20 goals and 41 points in just 63 games last season, big things were expected of the fifth-year defenseman.
NHL Postpones Seven More Games
With the COVID situations in Buffalo, New Jersey, and Minnesota still not contained, the NHL has postponed several more games. Two additional Sabres games (February 11, 13 vs WSH), three additional Devils games (February 11, 13 vs PHI; 15 vs BOS), and two additional Wild games (February 11 vs STL; 13 vs LAK) have been postponed. The decision on when each team will resume practicing and playing is still to come in the next few days.
The Sabres added Rasmus Dahlin to the COVID Protocol Related Absences list late last night, giving them nine players (plus their head coach) ruled out. John Vogl of The Athletic also reports that two linesmen that worked games between the Devils and Sabres at the end of last month have also entered the league’s protocol. In all, Vogl notes, 24 of the players who skated in those two games—January 30 and 31—have ended up on the CPRA list.
In Minnesota, GM Bill Guerin told Michael Russo of The Athletic that several other players are expected to hit the CPRA list in the coming days as the virus continues “creeping its way through the team.” One of the Minnesota players told Russo that “he feels like he has been hit by a bus and his symptoms have run the gamut.”
As of yesterday, the Devils had 16 players in the COVID protocol. They have not played since that January 31 game against the Sabres and will now be off through at least next Monday. The team’s nine games played is tied for the fewest in the league.
The full table of postponements continues to grow at an alarming rate:
COVID Notes: Dahlin, Wild, Kuznetsov
The Buffalo Sabres will have another big name on the COVID Protocol Related Absences list when it comes out later today as they have already announced that Rasmus Dahlin has been added. The team now has nine players in the protocol, plus head coach Ralph Krueger.
Technically, Dahlin was actually added to the list last night. It originally had just Casey Mittelstadt joining the other seven players previously listed—Taylor Hall, Jake McCabe, Brandon Montour, Tobias Rieder, Rasmus Ristolainen, Dylan Cozens, and Curtis Lazar—but Dahlin was an update given later. Like with any other player, being on the list does not necessarily mean you have tested positive for COVID-19. The Sabres are currently scheduled to resume play on February 11.
- The Minnesota Wild will also likely have some names added today, or at least in the near future. GM Bill Guerin implied that to Michael Russo of The Athletic, who did a very interesting examination of the outbreak with the Wild and the related league protocols. The Wild are also off until February 11, though that game against the St. Louis Blues seems very much in jeopardy should the team add several names today. Minnesota currently has nine players on the CPRA list.
- Evgeny Kuznetsov and Ilya Samsonov of the Washington Capitals spoke to reporters today following their own bouts with COVID-19 and provided a bit different experiences. When asked if he was scared at any point while experiencing symptoms, Kuznetsov told Samantha Pell of the Washington Post “no, I’m from Russia.” Samsonov meanwhile told Pell through an interpreter that there were a few days where he had trouble breathing and walking. Both players were on the ice today at practice.
NHL Postpones Four Minnesota Wild Games
As a result of the Minnesota Wild having five more players placed on the COVID Protocol Related Absences list today, joining Marcus Foligno who has been there since Sunday, the NHL announced the postponements of their games through February 9th. That means their next four games at a minimum will need to be rescheduled for later in the year. 18 games had been postponed previous to this one, affecting the schedules of Dallas, Florida, Tampa Bay, Carolina, Nashville, St. Louis, Vegas, San Jose, Buffalo, NY Islanders, NY Rangers, New Jersey, Pittsburgh, and Boston. Only the North Division is untouched so far.
The Wild will shut down their training facilities indefinitely and the schedule will continue to be revised as testing comes in. After tomorrow’s game against the Avalanche, the team was scheduled to host the Arizona Coyotes for a back-to-back this weekend, before welcoming in the St. Louis Blues on Tuesday and Thursday next week.
The postponement/rescheduling table now looks like this:
Snapshots: Three Stars, Bjugstad, Beijing
It was a western Canada sweep of the NHL’s Three Stars for this week, as young Vancouver Canucks goaltender Thatcher Demko took home the league’s top honors while Edmonton Oilers superstar teammates Connor McDavid and Leon Draisaitl earned the second and third stars, respectively. Demko, who the Canucks are hoping can establish himself as their starter of the future this season, certainly played the part this week. He won all three of his starts, allowing just three goals total – one per game – on 103 shots. A 1.00 GAA and .971 save percentage are more than worthy enough of first star status. Meanwhile, McDavid and Draisaitl put up monstrous numbers that have somehow become commonplace for both. The duo combined for seven goals and 24 points in just four games. Somehow the Oilers won just two of their four contests.
- Nick Bjugstad‘s wallet is now $5,000 lighter. The NHL Department of Player Safety announced that the Minnesota Wild center has received the maximum fine allowable for cross checking. The incident in question occurred on Sunday against the Colorado Avalanche. Defenseman Ryan Graves was the victim, taking a high cross check early in the second period. While the intent of the check was questionable at best, as Bjugstad battled Graves in front of the net, there is no denying that he delivered the check to Graves’ head area. That was all it took for the big pivot to earn a maximum fine.
- When the NHL returns to the Winter Olympics next year, they will do so on a more familiar ice surface. TSN’s Pierre LeBrun relays word from IIHF President Rene Fasel that the ice surface that will be used in Beijing will be North American in size. The IIHF has previously discussed using these smaller rink dimensions in competition after exclusively using the international dimensions in the past and the 2022 Winter Olympics will be the debut of this change. This does not imply that all future Olympic competitions will be played on a North American surface, but it does open the door for IIHF competition to be played on varying rink sizes, possibly as decided by the hosts.
Mathew Dumba Placed On Injured Reserve
The long list of absentees continues to grow for Minnesota as defenseman Mathew Dumba has been placed on injured reserve with a lower-body injury, notes Sarah McLellan of the Minneapolis Star-Tribune. That means he will be out for at least the next four games including tonight’s matchup against Colorado. Head coach Dean Evason indicated that there’s no timetable for his return while acknowledging it doesn’t look good.
Dumba’s absence is a tough blow to the Wild’s back end as he has been a key part of their top four for several years now. After a quiet 2019-20 season offensively, he is off to a better start this year with three goals through his first nine games; the rest of Minnesota’s defenders have just one combined.
Meanwhile, Evason is hopeful that Marcus Johansson’s undisclosed injury won’t keep him out for long although he isn’t in the lineup tonight. Goaltender Alex Stalock and winger Mats Zuccarello are also injured with the latter being transferred to LTIR to accommodate today’s taxi squad recalls of wingers Gerald Mayhew and Kyle Rau plus defenseman Luke Johnson. Will Bitten and Mason Shaw were added to the taxi squad in corresponding moves, per CapFriendly.
Marco Rossi Will Not Play This Season
Jan 31: Rossi reported late Saturday that sources have confirmed to him that Rossi will not play this season.
Jan 30: The Minnesota Wild have released a statement on Rossi, explaining that he has “returned to Austria to rest with his family due to complications from COVID.” Though Russo reported a six-week timeline, the team says there is “no timetable for his return to Minnesota.”
Anything else would be speculation at this point, but it’s clear that Rossi won’t be back anytime soon.
Jan 29: Though it is still not exactly clear what is wrong, Marco Rossi won’t be playing for the Minnesota Wild anytime soon. The ninth-overall pick has returned to Austria according to Michael Russo of The Athletic and is expected to return in six weeks. Previously, Rossi was listed as out indefinitely with an upper-body injury, but no other specifics have been officially confirmed. The young forward had been living in Minnesota, taking up residence in Thomas Vanek‘s house before this return to Austria.
Rossi, 19, played in the World Junior Championship this year, captaining the Austrian squad in four games. Prior to that, he had been assigned to Zurich in the Swiss league but managed to play in just a single game before testing positive for COVID-19. He only experienced mild symptoms and was cleared in November, but the league had been paused because of an outbreak at that point, so he did not play another game.
There was hope that Rossi could be one of the few players from the 2020 draft to jump directly to the NHL, given how polished his all-around game was at the OHL level last season. The young center recorded 39 goals and 120 points in 56 games for the Ottawa 67’s, leading all players in scoring. Instead, he now won’t even be playing in junior or the AHL as he continues to deal with whatever is ailing him. Even when he does eventually return, Rossi would have to obviously deal with any quarantine protocol is in place at the time before rejoining his Minnesota teammates.
Wild Hopeful Cam Talbot Will Be Available Saturday
The report earlier this week that the Blues are engaging in trade discussions around defenseman Vince Dunn came as a surprise to some but a slow start and eventual cap challenges once Vladimir Tarasenko is cleared to return is certainly among the reasons his name is out there. In a reader chat, Tom Timmermann of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch posits another idea in that there is potentially a wide divide between what the team feels he’s worth versus what Dunn believes he’s worth. Timmermann draws some parallels to former Blue Joel Edmundson who went year-to-year on his deal as the two sides were just too far apart to find common ground on a long-term agreement. If that is indeed the case, moving Dunn now with three years of team control left after this one would make more sense than what happened with Edmundson who was moved to Carolina last year as salary ballast in the Justin Faulk trade.
More from the West Division:
- The injuries continue to pile up for the Avalanche as Peter Baugh of The Athletic relays (Twitter link) that center Pierre-Edouard Bellemare is expected to miss an extended amount of time, joining winger Matt Calvert and goalie Pavel Francouz in that particular category. Bellemare sustained a lower-body injury in Thursday’s game against San Jose. Meanwhile, defenseman Devon Toews, who also briefly left yesterday’s contest, is also banged up with head coach Jared Bednar indicating that he’s unsure regarding the blueliner’s status.
- Sharks winger Rudolfs Balcers has been cleared to play and will head to the minors for a conditioning stint, reports CapFriendly (Twitter links). The 23-year-old was claimed off waivers back on January 12th and received a non-roster designation the next day that lasted through today. Balcers will be able to skate with AHL San Jose for up to two weeks before he must be recalled.
- Minnesota is hoping to have goalie Cam Talbot available for their next game against Colorado on Saturday, notes Sarah McLellan of the Minneapolis Star-Tribune. He has missed the last three games due to a lower-body injury with Kaapo Kahkonen making all three starts in his absence. The team has sent Andrew Hammond back to the taxi squad while Dereck Baribeau has gone from the taxi squad to the minors, reports CapFriendly (Twitter links), suggesting that Talbot is indeed ready to return.