5:26 PM
The NHL will come back from an extended holiday break with taxi squads and other roster revisions, a move made to guard against more disruptions to the season, as more players and coaches go into COVID-19 protocol Sunday.
If COVID-19 absences cause anyone to play without a full lineup, each team will be allowed to have a taxi squad of up to six players. Taxi squads, which were used during the shortened 2021 season, will be in effect until at least the All-Star break in February.
The deputy commissioner confirmed the new roster rules in an email. Sportsnet reported them.
Under the new provisions, a team that is shy of having 12 forwards, six defensemen and two goaltenders can bring up a player from the American Hockey League without playing a game with fewer than 18 skaters. Emergency recalls can be made of players with a salary cap of up to $1 million, an increase from the previous $850,000 limit.
The taxi squad will count as being in the minor for cap purposes. They can stay there for 20 days.
The goal of the changes is to keep the NHL season going after 64 games have been postponed for coronaviruses. The 14 games originally scheduled for Monday were postponed to allow for analyzing of the COVID-19 tests taken on Sunday by players, coaches and staff.
"It's my understanding that every game that is scheduled now will be played, unless for whatever reason there is a change," said Lou Lamoriello, the general manager of the New York Islanders. We will be playing. We don't know if we will be playing.
The return to team facilities brought about the additions to the COVID-19 protocol list across the league.
The defending Stanley Cup champion Lightning added goaltenders Vasilevskiy and Brian Elliott, defenseman Mikhail Sergachev, forward Pierre-Edouard Bellemare, and assistant coach Rob Zettler. The Islanders activated Mathew Barzal and added forwards Anthony Beauvillier and Cal Clutterbuck.
The Dallas Stars have forwards Miro Heiskanen, Mark Jankowski, Ryan Ellis, and Dylan Cozens.
The NHL began its annual Christmas break a day earlier than anticipated last week due to a rapid increase of positive COVID-19 test results among players. More than a quarter of the league's teams were shut down because of an outbreak.
The NHL can't follow the lead of the NFL by not testing players for vaccine-like diseases because it has seven teams based in Canada. The Canadian federal and provincial governments have no control over the rules and restrictions that the league has.
"If we weren't playing in Canada and we didn't have teams in Canada, you could consider that, and certainly it would be considered," said Lamoriello. It's not possible with the guidelines and rules of Canada. Without the testing that is required to play in Canada, we wouldn't be able to have games.
