14 Canucks on COVID Protocol List, Brazilian P.1 Variant News

The news that dropped Friday that as many as six-to-eight Vancouver Canucks players could be affected by the COVID virus was not good. It appears things are much, much worse than that. Reports coming out of Vancouver on Saturday confirm that eight players have been added to the COVID Protocol list and as the results of more tests come out, more players could be added, with some players getting quite sick.

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It is in fact 8 Canucks players so far in Covid protocol, the other being a taxi squad member. https://t.co/pxYhsrqHwe

— Pierre LeBrun (@PierreVLeBrun) April 2, 2021

Seven regulars – Alexander Edler, Braden Holtby, Quinn Hughes, Zack MacEwen, Antoine Roussel, Adam Gaudette and Travis Hamonic are now on the Covid Protocol list. The eighth player is a member of the Canucks taxi squad.

Unfortunately, TSN’s Darren Dreger also reports that more positive cases were identified on Friday night. A Brazilian variant of the virus has been identified in some of the players and among those who have tested positive, Dreger reports that several are quite ill. Farhan Lalji of TSN reports, “I’m also being told that in some cases team medical staff may have gone to the homes of players to administer IV treatments.”

As Dregs notes, some #Canucks players have become very ill.
I’m also being told that in some cases team medical staff may have gone to the homes of players to administer IV treatments. https://t.co/Uh5bqk6raf

— Farhan Lalji (@FarhanLaljiTSN) April 3, 2021

Patrick Johnston of The Province writes: “We’re expected a number of further positives cases on the Canucks to be disclosed by the NHL later today — and we know now at least some of the positives are the Brazilian P.1 variant, which is more transmissible and possibly more lethal for young people.”

What Does This Mean for Canucks Season?

Things could be delayed further as a result of these cases being revealed, but for now, the NHL has only noted that April 8th is the date the Canucks could return to play. Chris Johnston of Sportsnet writes:

“As the scope of the Canucks COVID situation widens, they are starting to bring players back to Vancouver from the AHL. They need reinforcements to serve seven-day quarantines and be ready to play when their NHL schedule resumes.”

As for the playoffs, the NHL has not said anything about postponing the postseason or about shortening the season if certain games can’t be rescheduled. If the Canucks players are out for an extended period of time, there’s a good chance the team won’t be able to get in all 56 games.

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