Dallas Stars add Roope Hintz, Esa Lindell to COVID protocol

The Dallas Stars have two more names for the COVID list, as both Roope Hintz and Esa Lindell have been placed in the protocol. They join Jani Hakanpaa, who went in before Christmas, and Radek Faksa, Miro Heiskanen, Joel Kiviranta, Michael Raffl and Jason Robertson, who all entered Sunday. Two of the team’s support staff are also in the protocol.

Dallas is expected to return to action on Wednesday against the Colorado Avalanche, but like everywhere else in the league right now, that game could obviously be postponed at any moment. The Stars obviously have an outbreak of their own and are now down eight players from their active roster. That includes a huge swath of defensemen, certainly making it difficult to field a competitive group in the coming days.

The team is practicing Monday, but according to Saad Yousuf of The Athletic, it is closed to the media. The team is also not holding any media availability for the time being as they try to get things under control.