NHL revives taxi squads, postpones 3 more games

The NHL and the NHL Players Association on Sunday announced the temporary formation of taxi squads, changes to the collective bargaining agreement and the cancellation of three games in the upcoming week.

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The moves were made to address issues related to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, the league and players union said in a joint news release.

According to the agreement, each team will be allowed to have a taxi squad of up to six players and to make emergency recalls from minor-league affiliates if COVID-19 absences would force a team to play without a full lineup.

The squads, which were used during the shortened 2021 season, will be in effect at least until the All-Star break in early February, according to The Associated Press.

The league also postponed three additional games -- Columbus at Chicago on Tuesday night, and Pittsburgh at Toronto and Boston at Ottawa on Wednesday night, according to the news release.

“Any relief is welcome, believe me,” Florida Panthers general manager Bill Zito told the Miami Herald. “It’s tough. What if all your goalies get it? What are you going to do? We’ve been through, as a management team, any number of scenarios surrounding the ‘what-ifs’ -- or maybe we’re kidding ourselves and we should be thinking about the ‘whens,’ as far as who gets it and when.”

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No individual player may spend more than 20 cumulative days on the taxi squad, the NHL said.

All 14 games previously scheduled for Monday were postponed to allow for the analysis of COVID-19 tests taken Sunday by players, coaches and staff members, the AP reported.

“It’s my understanding that every game that is scheduled now will be played unless for whatever reason there is a change,” New York Islanders general manager Lou Lamoriello told the AP. “Every indication we have (is) we will be playing. We have no indication that we will not be playing.”

The NHL began its annual Christmas break a day earlier than anticipated last week amid a rapid increase of positive COVID-19 test results among players. At the time, more than a quarter of the league’s 32 teams were shut down because of outbreaks.

The full NHL news release, which details all of the collective bargaining changes and rules about taxi squads and salary caps can be found here.

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