Wild players continue to arrive in Minnesota
Michael Russo: Minnesota Wild players continue to arrive in town, and are subject to quarantining for 14 days. Victor Rask is in day now, and Nico Sturm is in day . Nick Bonino has arrived and Brad Hunt has also returned. There are some small groups who have entered testing protocol to skate and workout. There are some others who are still on their own.
Blue Jackets returning after outbreak with extra testing
Aaron Portzline: Columbus Blue Jackets are starting to return back to the Nationwide Arena after the COVID-19 outbreak that shut things down for two weeks.
They are doing COVID tests as well as cardiac tests for players according to GM Jarmo Kekalainen before they are allowed to return.
Aaron Portzline: The Blue Jackets haven’t said which players tested positive for COVID or how many players were positive. They just said “several.”
Through a spokesman, early indications were that symptoms were only mild for the infected players.
The Red Wings will be a little deeper this season
Ansar Khan of MLive: Detroit Red Wings coach Jeff Blashill said they have a deeper roster for the 2020-21 NHL season which should translate into a better record.
Bobby Ryan has high-end skill and should help the power-play.
Blashill thinks that Vladislav Namestnikov has the versatility to play at center or on the wing., He can kill penalties and will get some power-play time.
Forward Evgeny Svechnikov is no longer waiver-exempt. He’s not guaranteed a spot and will be competing with others.
Filip Zadina has been playing in the Czech League which is good for his development. He’ll be competing for a roster spot with the Wings.
The Red Wings blue line is going to be a little thin last season according to Blashill and they aren’t sure how healthy Danny DeKeyser will be. He’s coming off major back surgery. Adding Marc Staal, Jon Merrill and Troy Stecher to the blue line adds more experience.