Toews, Kane Among Eight Blackhawks Players & Coaches In COVID-19 Protocol

After a dreadful 0-5-1 start to the season, the Chicago Blackhawks’ roster took another hit on Tuesday.

According to Mark Lazerus of The Athletic, the Chicago Blackhawks have five players and three coaches currently in COVID-19 protocol. Patrick Kane, Jonathan Toews, Henrik Borgstrom, Riley Stillman, and Jujhair Khaira have tested positive, as have coaches Marc Crawford, Tomas Mitell and Jimmy Waite.

As per the NHL’s COVID-19 guidelines, all of these players and staff will need to produce a negative test 24 hours after the initial positive test followed by another negative test another 24 hours after the first negative. That would mean there likely isn’t time for them to be ready to join the team as the Blackhawks face off against the Toronto Maple Leafs in Chicago on Wednesday night.

The Blackhawks season has been a mess thus far.

The team came into the 2021-22 season with playoff aspirations after the offseason acquisitions of Seth Jones, Marc-Andre Fleury and Tyler Johnson, but have started the year with a 0-5-1 record.

Given how competitive the Central Division is, the Blackhawks are going to have a very difficult time pulling themselves out of this early-season hole.