The Blackhawks’ roster is no longer completely untouched by COVID-19.
Forward Alex DeBrincat and defenseman Adam Boqvist were placed on the NHL’s COVID-19 Protocol list Monday, the league announced.
No additional information was immediately available. Players can end up on the Protocol list by testing positive, showing symptoms and isolating or coming in contact with someone else who tested positive.
DeBrincat and Boqvist are close friends off the ice, so the contract tracing situation could plausibly apply here. If one or both did test positive, they’d be required to isolate for at least 10 days and thus miss the Hawks’ next six games at minimum as currently scheduled.
The rest of the Hawks traveled to Nashville on Monday and are currently scheduled to play a back-to-back against the Predators on Tuesday and Wednesday.
Teams can, and often do, play games even with some players absent and on the COVID-19 list; the Red Wings were missing five players for that reason for Friday and Sunday’s games against the Hawks.
Not since Corey Crawford during the pre-playoffs training camp in July has a Hawks player publicly acknowledged or missed any in-season time due to a coronavirus infection, but the Hawks have more fortunate than many other teams in that regard.
DeBrincat and Boqvist’s absences will open large holes in the lineup. DeBrincat — with six points through six games — has been playing on the first line alongside Pius Suter and Patrick Kane, while Boqvist was paired with Duncan Keith on Sunday.
Matthew Highmore, Lucas Wallmark or Brandon Pirri are the likely options to replace DeBrincat. Lucas Carlsson, Wyatt Kalynuk or Nicolas Beaudin could replace Boqvist.
