The NHL announced Wednesday night that Buffalo Sabres forward Toby Rieder and defenseman Brandon Montour have been added to the NHL's COVID-19 Protocol List. Neither player will be available for practices, travel or games until he is removed from the protocol.
On Tuesday, the Sabres lost forward Taylor Hall and defenseman Rasmus Ristolainen to COVID protocols.
Throughout the 2020-21 season, the NHL is sharing the names of players who are "unavailable" to teams due to COVID protocols. This list is updated daily by the NHL.
The New Jersey Devils noww have 17 players in COVID protocols. On Tuesday, the Devils had 14 players and on Monday 10 players in COVID quarantine. The Devils players in COVID protocols are:
Nate Bastian, Jesper Bratt, Connor Carrick, Aaron Dell, Nikita Gusev, Jack Hughes, Andreas Johnsson, Janne Kuokkanen, Michael McLeod, Kyle Palmieri, Damon Severson, Yegor Sharangovich, Ty Smith, Matt Tennyson, Sami Vatanen, Pavel Zacha, and Travis Zajac.
@NJDevils now have 17 players in COVID protocols
— SabresBuzz (@SabresBuzz) February 4, 2021
One wonders, where is the NHL discipline for New Jersey Devils ownership and management? The Devils are deserving of a massive fine for the way that their managers and coaching staff handled their COVID contact tracing last weekend in Buffalo. If the Washington Capitals were fined $100,000 after Alex Ovechkin, Ilya Samsonov, Dmitri Orlov and Evgeny Kuznetsov were found to be in violation of COVID protocols while congregating together in a hotel room.
According to TSN's Bob McKenzie, some Sabres players expressed concerns to NHL Players Association last weekend regarding the Devils and their growing COVID protocols list. There has been no confirmation from the NHL that the NHLPA contacted the league last wekend to file a grievance against the Devils. If the Sabres complained to the NHLPA, and the PA elevated the Buffalo concerns the the league office, why wasn't the Sunday 1:00pm matinee postponed? The bigger problem would be if the Sabres and NHLPA in unison complained to the NHL and the league office chose to do nothing about about.
It's not for me to say. Now we wait for the NHL to speak on the matter.
Remember, Palmieri was added to the covid list before puck drop Sunday. On Tuesday, the Sabres were forced to indefinitely close their practice facilities and the NHL postponed all Sabres games at least through February 8 as a result of Taylor Hall and Rasmus Ristolainen entering the NHL's COVID Protocols.
These "COVID Protocol Related Absences" can be the result of a number of factors including, among others:
(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
No additional detail will be provided either by the League or the team, including the precise reason a player is unavailable or how long he might be out.
Rieder has three goals this season, and Montour has two assists while averaging 21:02 of ice time per game, which is third on the team.
The NHL is in the process of reviewing and revising the Sabres' regular-season schedule and it is expected that a decision on next week's games will be made in the coming days.
The Minnesota Wild organization now has a problem on its hands with six players in COVID protocols. The NHL has postponed Minnesota's next four games.
The NHL announced that as a result of five additional #mnwild Players being added today to the NHL’s COVID Protocol Related Absence List, the team’s games will be postponed at least through Tuesday, Feb. 9. pic.twitter.com/BZGZUmkL3L
— Minnesota Wild PR (@mnwildPR) February 4, 2021
More to come.....