The situation is not improving for the Toronto Maple Leafs, as Morgan Rielly, William Nylander and Jake Muzzin have all been placed on COVID-19 protocol for the past three days.
This brings the number of Leafs players placed on the protocol to 14 since December 17. That’s without counting head coach Sheldon Keefe, assistant coach Spencer Carbery and goaltending coach Steve Briere. Four other members of the organization are also there.
The National League announced on December 24 that its regular schedule would not resume until December 28, rather than December 26 as originally planned. This way of doing things will allow him to “analyze the results of the tests at the level of the League and to assess the capacity of the clubs to play”.
However, teams can return to training as of Sunday after 2 p.m. Players must test negative for COVID-19 before returning to their team’s facilities.
The League is expected to provide another update on its return-to-play plans by the end of Sunday.
On the Canadian side, three players are still on protocol at the moment. Artturi Lehkonen will be in his 10e isolation day on December 28. Laurent Dauphin and Mike Hoffman should leave the protocol on December 19 and 20 respectively.
Four games are scheduled for Tuesday, including the one between the Habs and the Lightning, in Tampa Bay.