Flyers' Kevin Hayes, Hurricanes' Brendan Smith enter COVID protocol

A pair of Metropolitan Division players have entered the COVID protocol Monday, as the Carolina Hurricanes and Philadelphia Flyers have announced the absences of Brendan Smith and Kevin Hayes, respectively.

The Flyers were set to take on the Washington Capitals Tuesday and Pittsburgh Penguins on Thursday, but will now have to do it without the services of a top forward. Hayes has had a nightmare season to this point, suiting up for just 11 games so far due to injury. He does have six points in those games, but now faces another period on the sidelines.

Carolina, meanwhile, wasn’t scheduled to play until after the break, meaning they should at least be getting a handful of players back from the COVID protocol in time to face the Florida Panthers on Dec 27. Sebastian Aho and Seth Jarvis have already been in the protocol for a week, while others like Jordan Staal, Andrei Svechnikov, Ian Cole and Steven Lorentz will have also cleared the 10-day threshold by the time the Hurricanes are set to return to action.