Islanders place captain Anders Lee, Ross Johnston in COVID protocol

The New York Islanders are supposed to open their brand new arena Saturday night, but they may be without their captain for the festivities. The team announced Friday that Anders Lee and Ross Johnston have been placed in the COVID protocol.

To be clear, the team has not confirmed that either one tested positive for coronavirus. Entering the protocol does not necessarily mean they will miss Saturday’s game, as we have recently seen in the case of Dylan Larkin. Larkin was removed from a game earlier this week only for the positive test to be confirmed false.

Should Lee and Johnston be confirmed positives, however, with any symptoms, they would be unavailable to the team for a minimum of 10 days. That would mean the Islanders' full five-game homestand would be without their captain, not exactly an ideal situation given the circumstances around the new rink.