Some NHL teams will benefit greatly from coronavirus hiatus!

In the past few days, most NHL fans have focused on the negative side of this pause due to due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Of course, it’s awful! No games to watch, no real news to report on… it seems like it’s all negative here! 

But let’s be positive for a second seeing that some NHL teams will greatly benefit from this unexpected pause. 

Several key players were injured earlier in the season, and some are expected to miss the remainder of the campaign. But that’s it was to end in April, in normal times, with the postseason kicking off in the second week of April. 

And so, teams will get some great players back in the fold and could become more menacing than they already are or will make them a top contender once again as we await the official playoff format for this year. 

The Carolina Hurricanes were expected to be without the services of defenseman Dougie Hamilton for many months . Having a an All Star, Norris Trophy caliber season, Hamilton had surgery to repair a broken fibula back in January. Some expected him only to return in the later rounds of the postseason, but thanks to the pandemic and the pause, he could return sooner rather than later. 

Same goes for the Pittsburgh Penguins who lost star forward Jake Guentzel. When he was operated on Dec. 31 for a shoulder injury, the prognosis was that he would miss a minimum of four months, which would have put Guentzel’s best-case scenario for rejoining the lineup at sometime during Round 2 of the playoffs. But it could be different now that the calendar will change due to this pause. 

The Vegas Golden Knights might get Mark Stone back in the fold for a playoff push and a stronger fight into the postseason. He was expected to be out week to week with a lower-body injury. And with the calendar changing, he could be back with a vengeance sooner rather than later. 

We cannot say that a return of blue liner Erik Karlsson would make all the difference for the San Jose Sharks, who are out of playoff contention, but who knows what could happen if the format gets modified? 

These teams and some others might indeed see the good sides of this pause caused by the COVID-19 outbreak….