Today the NHL announced that five players were added to the COVID protocol list, including two more Philadelphia Flyers. Jakub Voracek and Morgan Frost have joined Travis Sanheim, Claude Giroux, and Justin Braun on the list.
The Flyers now have 5 players on NHL’s COVID protocol list:
Morgan Frost, Jakub Voracek, Claude Giroux, Justin Braun and Travis Sanheim.
— Jordan Hall (@JHallNBCS) February 11, 2021
The news comes after we learned yesterday that the Flyers’ game on February 14 against the New York Rangers had also been canceled, in addition to the previous game cancellations. The NHL currently has 39 players sidelined on the COVID protocol list and has had to postpone 35 games thus far, just a month into the season.
With Frost already on IR and needing to travel for surgery, it’s likely his addition to the list does not have to do with the team’s breakout.
I don’t believe Morgan Frost has been around the Flyers team during this whole situation, as his focus has been on his injured shoulder and surgery. So my best guess is that his placement on the COVID list is unrelated to the current situation with the active team this week.
— Charlie O’Connor (@charlieo_conn) February 11, 2021
The Flyers are scheduled to play the Rangers on February 18, followed by the Lake Tahoe game on February 21. There have been some rumblings about a potential replacement team for the game, should the Flyers’ situation worsen, with namely the Rangers stepping in to play the Bruins.
The NHL has struggled with navigating COVID outside of the bubble, with the latest fumble occurring in a recent Vegas Golden Knights game when a player tested positive in the middle of a game. Tonight the NHL has pushed back the start time for the Edmonton Oilers contest against the Montreal Canadiens, due to Jesse Puljujarvi being added to the COVID protocol list. The team will undergo more testing before a decision is made on whether or not to proceed with the game.
