New York Rangers Players and Staff Face Daily COVID-19 Testing During Playoffs

The New York Rangers now know what safety procedures will be in place when they resume play as the NHL and NHLPA have tentatively agreed on protocols to resume play. The newly agreed-upon protocols cover Phase 3 and 4 of the NHL’s return-to-play plan and cover items such as testing and how the return-to-play would be called off if the COVID-19 virus cannot be contained. The NHL’s board of governors and the full membership of the NHLPA will vote on both the CBA extension and the return-to-play protocols that were agreed to on Sunday.

The New York Rangers players and staff will go through rigorous testing

According to Frank Seravalli of TSN, every person inside the NHL’s “bubble” will be tested for COVID-19 daily via nasal swab, also administered temperature checks and symptom screenings. The Rangers and all teams will be permitted to bring a maximum of 52 individuals inside the secure zone, including ownership, players, coaches, executives, and staff.

The list of people requiring daily testing is extensive and includes but is not limited to: all players, staff, officials, arena ice crew, security, hotel bartenders, food service staff, arena food and beverage staff, hotel housekeeping, hotel kitchen and food prep staff, and bus drivers. Simply put, any person who has contacted or may come into contact (even indirectly) will be tested daily.

Seravalli also reports that any person inside the bubble who tests positive will immediately be isolated. A second “confirmatory” test will be administered. If that test returns positive, then that person will be instructed to isolate until medical clearance is administered. Even if that confirmatory test is negative, that person shall remain isolated and will be tested again in 24 hours – only until a second negative test is provided will that person be permitted to exit isolation.

An ‘asymptomatic’ confirmed positive case will be allowed to rejoin after two consecutive negative tests over a 48-hour period, or after 10 days of passage in isolation.

A ‘symptomatic’ confirmed positive case will also be able to rejoin after symptoms have subsided (no fever, no respiratory symptoms) for a minimum of 72 hours, provided the person was in self-isolation for a minimum of 10 days since the onset of symptoms.

In all, 1,248 tests will be required daily for team personnel only. Add in all of the other levels and it is easy to imagine the NHL requiring upwards of 2,000 tests daily to begin the 24-team tournament. That is 20,000 tests in the first 10 days alone.

New York Ranger players may opt-out

According to phase 3 and 4 protocols, players may choose to not participate in the return-to-play tournament for any reason and without penalty. The deadline to opt-out will be three days after this return-to-play protocol package is ratified by a vote, likely giving players at least until July 13, when the list of each traveling party is due.

Each team will be permitted to bring a maximum of 52 individuals inside the secure zone, including ownership, players, coaches, executives, and staff, according to Seravalli. Teams are permitted to bring no more than 31 players. The list of each traveling party must be submitted to the NHL by July 13, the day training camps are scheduled to open. Each team will have at least one physician, one security representative, one club Phase 4 compliance officer, and one content creator / social media member included in the traveling party.

As of Monday morning, the timing for ratification remains open. It is believed that the details of the Memorandum of Understanding for the CBA extension are close to being finalized. Once that’s officially done, both sides will vote on the complete package. First, the package would need to be approved by the NHLPA Executive Board with a majority vote from player reps from each of the league’s 31 teams, including those who are not part of the RTP.

The NHL Board of Governors would also have to vote to approve the agreement by a two-thirds majority. A full player vote will be conducted across all 31 teams, with a simple majority vote required for passage.