Despite trying to mitigate the challenges of staging a season during a pandemic, with a shortened 56-game regular season with only divisional play, the NHL has seen quite a few players miss time as a result of COVID-19. When a player is out, he lands on the COVID-19 protocol list, but a positive test isn't required to wind up on the list. Some players have tested positive COVID-19 while some may have just been exposed to someone that has tested positive among other factors.
Players that have appeared on the league's COVID-19 Protocols List can be the result of several factors including:
- An initial positive test which remains unconfirmed until confirmatory testing is completed pursuant to the Positive Test Protocol
- Mandated isolation for symptomatic individuals pursuant to the Positive Test Protocol
- Required quarantine as a high-risk close contact in accordance with the Positive Test Protocol
- Isolation based on a confirmed positive test result
- Quarantine for travel or other reasons as outlined in the COVID-19 Protocol
The Vancouver Canucks are one of the teams that have been heavily impacted by COVID-19 during the 2021 season. The Canucks have had 22 players and an additional four staff members test positive for COVID-19 since March 30. The team's games have been postponed through April 16 to give the team more time to recover and prepare to return to play.
In addition, the Buffalo Sabres had six games postponed as a result of COVID-19 protocols while the New Jersey Devils had five games postponed earlier this season.
Here's a closer look at which players have missed time and how many games they've missed as a result of COVID-19.
Anaheim Ducks
- Ben Hutton (3 games)
- Danton Heinen (1 game)
- Jacob Larsson (1 game)
- Anthony Stolarz (1 game)
- Alexander Volkov (3 games)
Arizona Coyotes
- John Hayden (3 games)
Boston Bruins
- Charlie Coyle (1 game)
- Jake DeBrusk (7 games)
- Jaroslav Halak (6 games) *currently on NHL's COVID-19 Protocols List
- Karson Kuhlman (1 game)
- Sean Kuraly (5 games)
- Brad Marchand (2 games)
Buffalo Sabres
- Casey Mittelstadt (1 game)
Carolina Hurricanes
- Jesper Fast (2 games)
- Warren Foegele (2 games)
- Jordan Martinook (2 games)
- Jaccob Slavin (2 games)
- Jordan Staal (4 games)
- Teuvo Teravainen (2 games)
Chicago Blackhawks
- Nicolas Beaudin (1 game)
- Adam Boqvist (7 games)
- Ryan Carpenter (6 games)
- Alex DeBrincat (4 games)
- Lucas Wallmark (7 games)
Colorado Avalanche
- Bowen Byram (4 games) *currently on NHL's COVID-19 Protocols List
- Dennis Gilbert (2 games)
- Samuel Girard (2 games)
- Philipp Grubauer (1 game) *currently on NHL's COVID-19 Protocols List
- Erik Johnson (2 games)
- Tyson Jost (2 games)
- Gabriel Landeskog (2 games)
- Hunter Miska (1 game)
Columbus Blue Jackets
- Mikko Koivu (5 games)
- Patrik Laine (3 games)
- Jack Roslovic (1 game)
- Alexandre Texier (1 game)
Dallas Stars
- Blake Comeau (2 games)
- Anton Khudobin (2 games)
- Andrej Sekera (2 games)
Detroit Red Wings
- Christian Djoos (2 games)
- Adam Erne ( 8 games)
- Robby Fabbri (8 games)
- Sam Gagner (6 games)
- Jon Merrill (6 games)
- Patrik Nemeth (1 game)
- Calvin Pickard (1 game)
- Filip Zadina (7 games)
Edmonton Oilers
- Gaetan Haas (2 games)
- James Neal (2 games)
- Jesse Puljujarvi (1 game)
- Kyle Turris (4 games)
Florida Panthers
- Anthony Duclair (1 game)
- Juho Lammikko (1 game)
- Brandon Montour (1 game)
- Markus Nutivaara (1 game)
Los Angeles Kings
- Andreas Athanasiou (6 games)
- Brendan Lemieux (3 games)
- Blake Lizotte (5 games)
- Olli Maatta (2 games)
- Kurtis MacDermid (1 game)
- Cal Petersen (2 games)
- Matt Roy (6 games)
- Sean Walker (1 game)
Minnesota Wild
- Jonas Brodin (1 game)
- Marcus Foligno (2 games)
- Andrew Hammond (2 games)
- Brad Hunt (1 game)
- Zach Parise (5 games)
- Victor Rask (1 game)
- Carson Soucy (1 game)
- Cam Talbot (1 game)
Montreal Canadiens
- Joel Armia (6 games)
- Erik Gustafsson (1 game) *currently on NHL's COVID-19 Protocols List
- Jon Merrill (1 game) *currently on NHL's COVID-19 Protocols List
- Eric Staal (3 games)
Nashville Predators
- Mikael Granlund (4 games)
- Erik Haula (1 game)
- Ryan Johansen (1 game)
- Luca Sbisa (1 game)
New Jersey Devils
- Mackenzie Blackwood (6 games)
- Jesper Bratt (3 games)
- Will Butcher (3 games)
- Connor Carrick (2 games)
- Eric Comrie (2 games)
- Aaron Dell (3 games)
- Nico Hischier (2 games)
- Dmitry Kulikov (1 game)
- Kyle Palmieri (1 game)
- Sami Vatanen (1 game)
- Travis Zajac (3 games)
New York Islanders
- Noah Dobson (5 games)
- Jean-Gabriel Pageau (1 game)
New York Rangers
- Pavel Buchnevich (1 game)
- Filip Chytil (4 games)
- Phillip Di Giuseppe (5 games)
- Adam Fox (1 game)
- Brett Howden (6 games)
- Kaapo Kakko (5 games)
- K'Andre Miller (1 game)
- Justin Richards (1 game)
Ottawa Senators
- Jacob Bernard-Docker (4 games)
- Ryan Dzingel (6 games)
- Shane Pinto (4 games)
Philadelphia Flyers
- Justin Braun (2 games)
- Joel Farabee (1 game)
- Claude Giroux (2 games)
- Shayne Gostisbehere (4 games)
- Travis Konecny (4 games)
- Scott Laughton (3 games)
- Oskar Lindblom (3 games)
- Travis Sanheim (1 game)
- Jakub Voracek (3 games
Pittsburgh Penguins
- Sidney Crosby (1 game)
- Mark Jankowski (1 game)
- Kasperi Kapanen (2 games)
- Colton Sceviour (2 games)
- Brandon Tanev (1 game)
San Jose Sharks
- Tomas Hertl (5 games)
- Max Letunov (1 game)
- Marcus Sorensen (5 games)
St. Louis Blues
- Sammy Blais (1 game)
- Zach Sanford (1 game)
Tampa Bay Lightning
- Curtis McElhinney (3 games)
- Steven Stamkos (1 game)
Toronto Maple Leafs
- Nick Foligno (2 games) *currently on NHL's COVID-19 Protocols List
- Ben Hutton (1 game) *currently on NHL's COVID-19 Protocols List
- Riley Nash (2 games) *currently on NHL's COVID-19 Protocols List
- William Nylander (4 games) *currently on NHL's COVID-19 Protocols List
Vancouver Canucks
- Jordie Benn (4 games)
- Travis Boyd (1 game)
- Adam Gaudette (1 game)
- J.T. Miller (3 games)
Vegas Golden Knights
- Tomas Nosek (6 games)
- Alex Pietrangelo (1 game)
Washington Capitals
- Evgeny Kuznetsov (8 games)
- Dmitry Orlov (4 games)
- Alex Ovechkin (4 games)
- Ilya Samsonov (8 games)
- Jakub Vrana (1 game)
Winnipeg Jets
- Pierre-Luc Dubois (7 games)
- Anton Forsberg (3 games)
- Tucker Poolman (6 games)