Coyotes latest franchise to be hit by COVID-19.

The Arizona Coyotes have become the latest team on the National Hockey League to be hit by COVID-19. According to an official announcement made just minutes ago, a member of the Coyotes staff has tested positive for the virus. As in every instance of a positive test thus far related to the NHL, the league and its teams have chosen not to disclose the identity of the people involved. It is therefore impossible to determine at what level of the organization this person was currently working in.

There is good news out of the Coyotes camp however and that is that the unidentified individual has proven to be asymptomatic and is currently self isolating at home. All members of the Coyotes that may have come into contact with that person have been notified and will be taking all the necessary precautions as per the NHL's clear guidelines on these matters. This is yet another sign of the potential struggles teams will face when they return for the 2020 Stanley Cup Playoffs and I would have to imagine that risk will only escalate with teams opening up their training facilities for phase 2 of the NHL's return to play plan.

This news also comes fresh off the heels of a report from the Boston Bruins that one of their players tested positive for the virus as well this week, one of 10 NHL players thus far who we know has positive positive at some point during this global pandemic. The NHL faces some very real challenges here, challenges that they were no doubt anticipating, and it is going to be very interesting to see how the league reacts moving forward if a key player is forced to sit out as a result of this virus.