The NHL announced that 27 players confirmed positive tests of COVID-19 during the training camps, which concluded on Tuesday.
Of those players, 17 were members of the Dallas Stars, who closed their training facilities last Friday after an outbreak. Dallas’ first three games – in Florida on Thursday and Friday and in Tampa Bay on Sunday – have been postponed. The current Western Conference champions are now tentatively set to debut at Lightning on January 19, in a rematch of the Stanley Cup final.
The NHL said most Dallas players were asymptomatic and all of them “are recovering without complications”.
Vice Commissioner Bill Daly said this week that the Stars will be able to play when they can put a competitive team on the ice “without jeopardizing the health and safety of players”.
The league opens its 2020-21 regular season of 56 games on Wednesday.
Training camp tests were administered over a two-week period from December 30 to January 11. Approximately 12,000 tests were administered to more than 1,200 players.
The identities of the players who tested positive in the preseason were not revealed. This policy changes in the regular season, when any player with a confirmed positive test, or a player being retained due to contact tracking concerns, will be publicly quoted.
“The purpose of having the protocols is not so that we can punish people,” said Commissioner Gary Bettman. “The goal of having the protocols is to keep everyone as safe and healthy as possible. We are seeing compliance across virtually the entire league. The test numbers have been very good.”