NHL shuts down Red Wings through holiday break

The NHL announced Sunday that due to continued COVID spread within the organization, the Detroit Red Wings will be shut down through the holiday break.

Detroit’s facilities will be closed through at least December 26, the last day of the holiday break. Until then, players and staff have effectively been sent home.

As a result of the shutdown, Detroit’s game originally scheduled for Thursday against the Minnesota Wild is postponed. It’s the 40th NHL game to be postponed this season, further casting Olympic participation into doubt.

There are six Detroit players currently in COVID protocol — Filip Zadina, Carter Rowney, Givani Smith, Michael Rasmussen, Robby Fabbri and Alex Nedeljkovic. Due to the nature of the release, it’s possible that more additions will be announced later tonight.

The Red Wings will come out of the holiday break with a 15-13-3 record and .532 points percentage, which is the fifth-best in the Atlantic Division.

Detroit’s shutdown was originally reported by Daily Faceoff’s Frank Seravalli.