Buffalo Sabres head coach Don Granato and forwards Dylan Cozens and Mark Jankowski have entered the NHL’s COVID-19 protocol, the team announced Sunday. Players were scheduled to report for testing ahead of practice after 2 p.m., with the NHL’s return to game action delayed until at least Tuesday.
The Sabres canceled practice. A short time later, the information regarding the team’s newest additions to protocol were announced.
Granato, Cozens and Jankowski join Zemgus Girgensons, Jeff Skinner and Vinnie Hinostroza in the league’s protocol.
Currently, the Sabres are scheduled to play on Wednesday night, hosting the New Jersey Devils. The NHL recently cancelled all games on Monday, with a few teams slated to play Tuesday. We’ll know later today whether or not those games will go on as planned.
With players returning from holiday break, there have been several additions to the league’s COVID protocol across the NHL. The Tampa. Bay Lightning added a handful of players, including Mikhail Sergachev, Andrei Vasilevskiy, Brian Elliott and Pierre-Edouard Bellemare. The Leafs have had several players enter protocol over the last few days.
Amid all of this, and the hopeful return to play soon, the NHL and NHLPA are reportedly working on standards for optional taxi squads, emergency call-ups and for teams to be allowed to add a goaltender if needed.
NHL/NHLPA working on COVID roster protection, including: Optional use of taxi-squad through All-Star; emergency call-ups as long as player is making no more than $1M; and freedom to add a goalie if a club has less than 2 healthy due to the virus.
— Elliotte Friedman (@FriedgeHNIC) December 26, 2021