No additional Vancouver Canucks players added to NHL’s COVID-19 list

VANCOUVER — No Vancouver Canucks’ players were added to the NHL’s COVID-19 list Thursday, suggesting an end to the team’s outbreak could be in sight. 

Nineteen Canucks players remain on the list and the team has said all players and staff are in quarantine. 

The Canucks issued a statement Wednesday saying 25 people in the organization have tested positive for the virus since the outbreak began on March 30. 

The total includes 18 players on the active roster, three from the taxi squad and four members of the coaching staff. One additional player is considered a close contact.

The statement also said the outbreak — the largest in the NHL this season — involves a variant of the virus and genomic sequencing is being done to determine which specific variant. 

Six Canucks’ games have been postponed and have yet to be rescheduled by the NHL. 

A player on the COVID-19 protocol list has not necessarily tested positive. Players who are in self-isolation after travelling or who’ve been in close contact with someone who tested positive, for example, are also on the list.

Meanwhile, Toronto Maple Leafs forward Willaim Nylander remained on the protocol list, but none of his teammates were added Thursday.

Nylander was placed on the list Wednesday before the Maple Leafs’ game against Montreal. The Leafs say he had exposure to a possible positive case with a close contact outside the team.

Leafs coach Sheldon Keefe said after the game that the team found out there could be an issue around noon Wednesday, and he credited Nylander with being honest about it.

“Credit to Will for how he handled it in terms of being up front and letting us know (about)  a potential situation,” Keefe said. “It’s important to point out that Will didn’t break any protocols.”

This report by The Canadian Press was first published April 8, 2021. 

The Canadian Press