Mika Zibanejad was held out of the Rangers practice Saturday morning due to what the team said was a “COVID-19 protocol related absence.”
This is the second time Zibanejad has entered COVID-19 protocol since he spent a majority of last season’s training camp battling the virus. As he worked his way back to feeling 100 percent healthy, Zibanejad ultimately endured one of his slowest starts to a season since he entered the NHL in 2011. Rangers coach Gerard Gallant said it’s unclear how Zibanejad’s situation will unfold and how much time he will miss.
“It was hard, it wasn’t easy and everyone reacts to it differently,” Zibanejad later admitted on a Zoom call last season. “I wasn’t feeling very good. I told you guys I was fine, but it was just for my sake. I didn’t want to create anything around that or put that in my own head really.”
Greg McKegg, who has been recalled five separate times so far this season, took Zibanejad’s spot on the top line in between Chris Kreider and Barclay Goodrow during practice.
