In the third NHL season impacted by COVID-19, the Rangers have been luckier than many other teams.
Not only was their recent outbreak mild and slow-moving through the locker room, but it also didn’t hit the Rangers until the NHL reinstated taxi squads over the holiday recess, making it easier to transition depth players into the lineup on short notice. Plus, the league reduced the quarantine period from 10 to five days, as suggested by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
The Blueshirts managed to go 3-2 despite having five regulars test positive over the course of their recent road trip.
Ryan Reaves recently returned to the lineup after he tested positive for the virus on the West Coast trip. Aside from experiencing a fever, chills and trouble sleeping the first day, Reaves said he felt fine for the most part.
“At some point, COVID just has to be a flu,” Reaves said. “We can’t just keep going through all these new variants and having to shut down. At some point, it’s just got to go away. We’ve got to live through it and deal with it, and just understand that, if you’ve got symptoms, test. If you’ve got it, stay home for a couple days. But I think we’ve learned, especially this year, guys have been getting it [and] don’t even know they have it most of the time.”
“I felt completely fine, yet I had to test out. I had to wait [for the mandatory five-day quarantine]. I missed two games when I felt I could have played those two. So, yeah, I hope we stop testing — and I hope just the world, in general, just gets back [to normal].”
Igor Shesterkin was one of many Rangers missing during their recent COVID outbreak.NHLI via Getty ImagesNow, the NHL and the players’ association have agreed to stop testing asymptomatic players and staff, as well as fully vaccinated individuals who are deemed a close contact. A press release sent on Tuesday said there will be no testing during the All-Star break unless needed for travel or if symptoms develop.
Club personnel will be required to test negative upon re-entry to team facilities. Going forward, however, testing will be on a limited “for cause” bases for fully vaccinated players and staff. Members of a team’s traveling party will still be tested for cross-border travel.
Those who have tested positive and cleared protocols will still have a “testing holiday” of 90 days, per the league release. Symptom-based testing will still be done at each team physician’s discretion as well.
As long as COVID-19 cases around the league continue to decline, the current testing routine is expected to remain in place through Feb. 3. Pending a review and an agreement between the NHL’s and NHLPA’s medical experts by Jan. 31, the new guidelines will go into effect after the All-Star break.
The Rangers are nearly fully healthy as they gear up to play eight games in the span of 14 days, beginning with Wednesday’s matchup with the Maple Leafs. Lafreniere and Barclay Goodrow both cleared COVID-19 protocol and competed against Toronto on Wednesday, while assistant coach Gord Murphy has been away from the team since before the 3-2 loss to the Flyers on Saturday.
