The Toronto Maple Leafs are set to host the Detroit Red Wings at Scotiabank Arena Tuesday evening, but unfortunately for the Wings, they've had a player test positive for COVID-19 just hours before the game.
Per the Red Wings' official Twitter account, the team has announced that defenseman Marc Staal was placed in the NHL's COVID-19 protocol shortly after noon, approximately 7 hours before puck drop.
The obvious concern here is that the Leafs are now just days away from the start of the playoffs and another outbreak similar to what the Leafs had experienced in December could have very serious implications on their first round series against, presumably, the Tampa Bay Lightning.
Granted, the NHL has loosened its COVID-19 testing policy, which means that even players who may contract the virus would not even need to test unless they begin to exhibit symptoms. The silver-lining is that if a Leafs player happens to exhibit symptoms and test positive, they would only need to quarantine for 5 days if their symptoms go away or show signs of improvement.
Obviously, nobody wants delays in the playoffs due to team-wide outbreaks that might leave a team with too few players to ice a proper roster, so hopefully the Red Wings were able to get out in front of this and that none of the other players on the roster happen to test positive after tonight's game in Toronto.
