NHL's new COVID protocols will hit unvaccinated players with daily tests, possible suspensions

The NHL's new COVID protocols are not messing around.

Hockey season is still a month off now that calendars have turned to September, but information on the 2021-22 NHL season is already filtering in.

On Thursday, the NHL’s new COVID-19 protocols were released to the public, and the mandates for unvaccinated players are quite rigorous. The NHL is set to play a full 82-game season in 2021-22, with the two conferences and four divisions as you would expect from a normal year.

This year, however, the NHL has upped their COVID protocols, especially pertaining to unvaccinated players. Much like the NBA, the NHL is not requiring its players to be vaccinated, but instead is opting for more restrictions, daily testing, and possible suspensions for its unvaccinated players. Media members and anyone with “personal interactions” with hockey personnel must be vaccinated, however.

The biggest change is the mechanism for clubs to suspend unvaccinated players who are “unable to participate in club activities” without pay for however long they are out. According to Sportsnet, “this includes situations where a player cannot travel because of local, provincial/state and/or federal regulations ‘upon return.'”

That last part is key, considering the NHL will be playing games across the border between the United States and Canada, unlike last season until the playoffs. Still, there are exceptions to this mandate, from medical reasons which could keep a player from being vaccinated to “sincerely held religious beliefs.”

And if an unvaccinated player does contract COVID who isn’t in an exemption category and “failed to comply” with the league’s protocols, 50 percent of costs associated will be charged to the player’s share of hockey-related revenue.

Reading the NHL COVID-19 protocols, let's just say vaccinated and unvaccinated players will be treated very differently this season.

Different protocols, no pay if unvaccinated player gets sick, 50% of costs associated will be charged to players' share of HRR, etc.

— Michael Russo (@RussoHockey) September 2, 2021

That’s a hefty price to pay, but one the NHL is enforcing to keep its players safe and the season on track to complete.

Plus, unvaccinated players must be tested daily and are restricted from leaving “internal venues” other than the team hotel, practice facility, and arena while on the road. That means no visits to other players hotel rooms, no eating off-site at restaurants, and no access to hotel gyms, pools, or other facilities.

Meanwhile, vaccinated players must be tested every 72 hours with a PCR test, have no restrictions on access while on the road, and if they contract COVID, “shall be treated as a hockey-related injury for all purposes” and will collect their pay.

Of course, the NHL does have an opt-out policy, which players must decide by October 1. A team will then have 30 days to decide if the player’s contract rolls over to next season or this season is skipped entirely. Opting out of the 2021-22 season would also preclude players from playing in other leagues or the upcoming Olympics.

Though the safest thing the NHL could do here would be to require vaccinations for all of its players, this is still a positive step in the right direction for the league in keeping its players, staff, media members, and fans safe as the 2021-22 season rolls along.