Placed in COVID protocol
Carolina Hurricanes: Goaltender Frederik Andersen was placed in COVID protocol.
San Jose Barracuda: Players placed in COVID protocol were Evander Kane, Jasper Weatherby and Nick Cicek.
Bryan Burns: Tampa Bay Lightning head coach Jon Cooper was put in COVID protocol before Tuesday night’s game.
Injury updates
Michael Russo: Minnesota Wild GM Bill Guerin wouldn’t say if forward Joel Eriksson Ek‘s needs surgery, nor did he give a timetable. He’ll be out for a while though. When asked about the Winter Classic he said “it stinks.”
Mike Benton: Seattle Kraken forward Brandon Tanev is now on the IR. He was involved in a collision into the boards in the third period of Saturday night’s game.
Jesse Granger: Vegas Golden Knights coach Pete DeBoer on Robin Lehner: “tweaked lower body in the Islander game. I would call him day to day.”
Prospects playing in the World Junior Championships
Gord Miller: Numbers of players that teams have prospects playing in the World Junior Championships.
Anaheim Ducks – 4
Arizona Coyotes – 1
Boston Bruins – 1
Buffalo Sabres – 4
Calgary Flames – 1
Carolina Hurricanes – 10
Chicago Blackhawks – 4
Colorado Avalanche – 1
Columbus Blue Jackets – 4
Dallas Stars – 4
Detroit Red Wings – 8
Edmonton Oilers – 2
Florida Panthers – 6
Los Angeles Kings – 6
Minnesota Wild – 6
Montreal Canadiens – 3
Nashville Predators – 4
New Jersey Devils – 4
New York Islanders – 0
New York Rangers – 5
Ottawa Senators – 5
Philadelphia Flyers – 3
Pittsburgh Penguins – 3
San Jose Sharks – 1
Seattle Kraken – 2
St. Louis Blues – 3
Tampa Bay Lightning – 0
Toronto Maple Leafs – 3
Vancouver Canucks – 1
Vegas Golden Knights – 4
Washington Capitals – 1
Winnipeg Jets – 4
Fehr statement on the Olympics
NHLPA: A statement from NHLPA executive director Don Fehr on not going to the Winter Olympics in Beijing.
“Since the CBA extension was reached 17 months ago, NHL players have looked forward with great anticipation to once again participating in the Winter Olympics. Until very recently, we seemed to be on a clear path to go to Beijing. COVID-19 has unfortunately intervened, forcing dozens of games to be postponed this month alone. No matter how much we wish it were not the case, we need to utilize the Olympic period to reschedule these games.
“Certainly, the players and hockey fans are quite disappointed. But playing a full 82-game season this year, something the pandemic has prevented us from doing since the 2018-19 season, is very important. We expect that NHL players will return to the Olympics in 2026.”