3 Rangers on COVID protocol as they go back to work with an uncertain future

The New York Rangers got back to work Sunday with a practice scheduled for late Sunday afternoon.  It was more of a COVID-19 test run with all returning players undergoing testing to see if anyone came down with the virus during the break.

The Rangers reported that three players are in the COVID protocol. Patrick Nemeth had already been on the list, but new additions are Alexandar Georgiev and Ryan Lindgren.

If Lindgren and Georgiev have to miss ten days in quarantine, they could miss total of four games. It’s a good time for Igor Shesterkin to get healthy and return to action.

As far as the defense is concerned, without Lindgren and Nemeth look for Jarred Tinordi and Nils Lundkvist to get back into some games while Libor Hajek stays in the lineup.  The Rangers could also promote Zac Jones who is having a fine season in Hartford.

New roster rules

In the meantime, the NHL and the NHLPA have agreed to move forward on some roster relief for teams.  The moves were reported first by Elliotte Friedman of Sportsnet.

TAXI SQUADS:  NHL teams will be allowed to employ a taxi squad at least through the All-Star break.  The maximum number of players will be six and the longest a player can be on it will be 0 days.  Players ineligible for taxi squad duty will be anyone who is waiver-exempt, was on the NHL roster for 75 percent of the season or played in 16 of the last 20 games.

Taxi squads will be able to practice and travel with the teams.  They get paid their AHL salaries and an additional stipend.

GOALIES:  Teams will be allowed to carry three goalies if one or more is unable to play.

CAP RELIEF: If a team cannot dress 12 forwards and six defensemen, it will be allowed emergency recalls no matter the cap implications.  Any players recalled cannot earn over $1 million.

There is still no word about resumption of play except that the NHL postponed all games scheduled for Monday, December 27. Teams are scheduled to resume play on Tuesday with the Rangers on a two game road trip to Florida beginning Wednesday in Miami and concluding Friday in Tampa.

By instituting the changes, the NHL is obviously looking to get back to action.  A number of players did go onto the protocol with no exact number available, but some estimate say 100 players are on the COVID protocol.

The big question facing the NHL will be if they are going to go the way of the NFL and test players who show symptoms, considering that the NHL is nearly 100% vaccinated.

Positive test results

The list of NHL players in the COVID protocol is long and getting longer. Besides the three Rangers, here are some of the players who were added today (it’s not a complete list, but was up to date as of 7pm Sunday).

Coyotes:  Christian Fischer, Ilya Lyubushkin
Ducks: Max Comtois, Sam Steel
Bruins:  Charlie Coyle,
Sabres:  Mark Jankowski, Dylan Cozens, Coach Don Granato
Avalanche:  Pavel Francouz, Mikko Rantanen, Logan O’Connor, Nazem Kadri, Kurtis MacDermid
Stars: Radek Faksa, Miro Heiskanen, Joel Kiviranta, Michael Raffl, Jason Robertson
Red Wings: Nick Leddy, Lucas Raymond
Oilers:  Zack Kassian
Panthers:  Jonathan Huberdeau, Eetu Luostarinen, Owen Tippett, MacKenzie Weegar
Kings:  Dustin Brown, Olli Maatta
Devils:  Tomas Tatar, Jon Gillies
Islanders:  Anthony Beauvillier, Cal Clutterbuck, Zach Parise, Oliver Wahlstrom
Flyers: Ryan Ellis, Sean Couturier
Penguins: Evan Rodrigues
Blues: Ivan Barbashev, James Neal, Dakota Joshua, Robert Bortuzzo
Lightning:  Pierre-Edouard Bellemare, Mikhail Sergachev, Andrei Vasilevskiy, Brian Elliott,
Maple Leafs: Jake Muzzin
Canucks:   Alex Chiasson

Big hits

To get back to the subject o hockey, Sportsnet tweeted out a video of the top ten hits of 2021 and guess who made two appearances?  Yes, Jacob Trouba.  Number nine is his hit on Nathan MacKinnon of the Avalanche on December 8 at Madison Square Garden.  Number seven is his hit on Luke Kunin of Nashville just two games later.  His massive hit on Jujhar Khaira of the Blackhawks did not make the top ten, though it definitely cause more of an injury to the recipient.  Here’s the list.

Trouba is enhancing his reputation as a big hitter and threw the three biggest hits of the season by a Blueshirt in a span of four games.

If all goes according to plan, we should see Trouba throwing checks again on Wednesday in Florida against the Panthers.