The Vancouver Canucks had multiple games postponed in December after a COVID-19 outbreak that affected six players and a member of the coaching staff. Since then, the Canucks have had a few more players test positive for COVID-19 and enter the NHL's COVID protocol.
Brock Boeser and Phillip Di Giuseppe, as well as an unnamed Canucks staff member, tested positive while in Anaheim, forcing them to quarantine in the U.S. Justin Dowling then tested positive in Los Angeles and Jason Dickinson tested positive in Seattle, forcing both of them to also quarantine in the U.S.
The team also had "as many as five" false positives ahead of their game in Seattle but subsequent negative tests cleared those players to play.
On Wednesday, the Canucks reported that Elias Pettersson is the team's latest addition to the COVID protocol, for a total of five players.
Unlike his teammates in the protocol, Pettersson will at least be able to quarantine in Vancouver.
The NHL's revised protocol has reduced the quarantine to five days, after which a player can leave the protocol with a negative COVID test. If Pettersson clears quarantine after five days, he will potentially miss just one game, the team's scheduled game against the Ottawa Senators on Saturday.
The Canucks were previously scheduled to play the New York Islanders on Wednesday but that game was postponed by the NHL due to capacity restrictions from the provincial health authority. Saturday's game will also be subject to the same reduced capacity but it has not been postponed as of yet.
While Pettersson has not scored at the same rate as previous seasons, he still represents a significant loss for the Canucks' lineup. He has 17 points in 34 games this season and has taken on a larger special teams role with time on the penalty kill.
