SUNRISE, Fla. – Unaffected by Covid-19 for the first quarter of the season, the Buffalo Sabres are finally forced to handle a player landing on the National Hockey League’s protocol list.
Sabres starting goalie Dustin Tokarski was placed in Covid-19 protocol Thursday, causing the club to dispatch top prospect Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen from Rochester. The Sabres also didn't hold a morning skate ahead of their game against the Florida Panthers inside FLA Live Arena.
The move forced Don Granato to use Aaron Dell as the Sabres' starting goalie against the first-place Panthers, as Luukkonen did not arrive in time to skate Thursday morning. Malcolm Subban, who was acquired from Chicago, won't join the team until Friday in Raleigh, N.C.
Granato could not say how long the Sabres will be without Tokarski, though testing cleared the rest of the team.
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"There's concern always when you’re in the middle of a pandemic and we are still in the middle of a pandemic," said Granato. "So, yeah, concern is no different. It’s the same because we’ve been in this thing and it doesn’t seem like it’s going away."
The situation comes at a tenuous time for the Sabres, as their American Hockey League affiliate, the Rochester Americans, had two games postponed in response to their coach, Seth Appert, entering Covid-19 protocol. There was concern that some Amerks players will test positive for the virus.
At the outset of training camp in September, general manager Kevyn Adams told reporters that the Sabres had 100% vaccination rate.
The Sabres are the latest NHL team forced to confront a player landing on the protocol list. The New York Islanders had two games postponed after they placed six players on the protocol list during a 1-0 loss to Pittsburgh last Friday. Previously, the Ottawa Senators had three games postponed because of 10 cases on the club.
Dell, 32, has a 4.56 goals-against average and 0.862 save percentage in five appearances this season. Fans are clamoring to see Luukkonen, but the 2017 second-round draft choice hasn’t strung together a consistent stretch in Rochester. He has a 3.42 goals-against average and 0.888 save percentage, though he stopped 64 of 69 shots in games against previously undefeated Utica and Hershey.
Tokarski took over as the Sabres’ starting goalie when Craig Anderson was sidelined with an upper-body injury following a game in San Jose on Nov. 2. Tokarski, 32, has a 3.22 goals-against average and .902 save percentage in 14 games.
