NHL Postpones 7 Games amid Devils, Wild, Sabres' COVID-19 Issues

The NHL's COVID-19 postponements continue. 

On Monday, the league announced the postponement of seven additional games as the New Jersey Devils, Minnesota Wild and Buffalo Sabres grapple with the effects of the league's COVID-19 Protocols. 

Buffalo and New Jersey last played Jan. 31 against each other, and Minnesota hasn't played since Feb. 2. 

The new postponements include Buffalo's games against the Washington Capitals on Thursday and Saturday, New Jersey's games with the Philadelphia Flyers and Boston Bruins and the Wild's contests against the St. Louis Blues and Los Angeles Kings, all of which are also scheduled for those days. 

According to Sean Leahy of NBC Sports, the Sabres and Wild each have nine players on the league's COVID-19 list. The Devils have 16 players affected.

One of those players is Minnesota's Marco Rossi, who tested positive for COVID-19 in November and experienced mild symptoms, his agent told The Athletic's Michael Russo. The 19-year-old has since returned home to Austria to recover from complications that were discovered in a team physical.

Amid a rise in coronavirus-related issues last week, the league made several changes to health and safety protocols. In an effort to improve airflow, glass behind benches was removed and teams were told to make more space in dressing rooms, while coaches and players could not enter the arena until 1 hour and 45 minutes prior to the game (h/t Mike Brehm of USA Today). 

The newest postponements bring the NHL's total up to 33. Every NHL division has been affected with the exception of the North division, which is comprised of the NHL's seven teams based in Canada (h/t Brehm).