Tom’s Daily: Stars, Canucks COVID-19 Woes Grow; Trade Rumors; more

The Vancouver Canucks are in serious trouble as a COVID-19 outbreak courses through the team. Now estimates are saying more than 20 players and staff are infected with the “Brazil” variant of the virus. On top of that, last night Dallas Stars head coach Rick Bowness was pulled from the team’s bench mid-game over COVID concerns.

Oh, and the NHL trade deadline is a week away.

NHL

The Vancouver Canucks have a serious outbreak of COVID-19 right now, and it’s a variant Canada hasn’t seen much of. The NHL has made plenty of contingency plans prior to the season including if a team couldn’t continue or had to miss a substantial amount of time. Here’s a few looks at the situation from Sportsnet, TSN, CBC and The Province.

Dallas Stars head coach Rick Bowness was pulled from the bench mid-game last night. While it could be a false positive, I have to ask how we’ve seen at the NHL and AHL level (Silver Knights game shut down due to COVID-19 protocols) players/coaches pulled in the middle of the game for a positive test. Why aren’t the results coming back a few hours earlier so we don’t infect entire teams? (CBC Sports)

Where the heck did the Pittsburgh Penguins come from? Once again so many around the league left them for dead and now thanks in large part to the Philadelphia Flyers swoon, they have a 97% chance to make the playoffs. (PittsburghHockeyNow)

NHL Trade Deadline

Speaking of the Flyers, they have a really big decision to make this week ahead of the nhl trade deadline. Will they buy or sell? (PhillyHockeyNow)

The Florida Panthers are the best team in the NHL – I’m not kidding. Check the standings. But they still have to go through both the Carolina Hurricanes and the defending Stanley Cup Champion Tampa Bay Lightning. So what might they want to add at the deadline? (FloridaHockeyNow) and (Sportsnet)

The New Jersey Devils held Kyle Palmieri out of last night’s game anticipating a trade. Here’s a look at five potential landing spots for him. (NJ.com)

Hockeyverse

Here’s a look at what it’s like to be traded in the NHL and why it can be hard to adjust. (Sportsnet)

A team in Prince Edward Island fulfilled a goal to honor two teammates who passed away before the start of the season by winning a championship. (The Chronicle Herald)