Schmidt tested positive at the rink this morning and will not be available for Wednesday's game in Buffalo. He's also in danger of missing tomorrow's game in Toronto and Saturday's game vs. the Kings. In addition to Connor, Kyle Connor was also added to the COVID-19 protocol list on Wednesday.
Lundell will miss his 10th straight game on Tuesday but was on the ice for Tuesday's morning skate. Head coach Andrew Brunette said that if Lundell isn't back for Thursday, they are hopeful he will play in the back-to-back over the weekend.
Bjornfot has missed the last five games with an undisclosed injury but is set to play Saturday vs. the Kraken. Bjornfot has eight assists in 61 games this season.
Kulikov will replace Jon Merrill on the Wild blueline after sitting out on Thursday. Kulikov has scored four goals with 15 assists (19 points) in 60 games this season.
It's unclear if Greer will draw into the Devils lineup on Wednesday but he's been recalled with 40 points (18G / 22A) in 46 AHL games this season. He appeared in two games with the Devils in mid-January.
Moving Ekblad to LTIR opens up $7.5M in cap relief ahead of Monday's trade deadline. Ekblad will miss the rest of the regular season but should be ready to go for the first round of the playoffs. Losing Ekblad will hurt down the stretch but they are expected to use the cap-space to add Robert Hagg from Buffalo and could add more before the deadline.
Ekblad left Thursday's game and was unable to put any weight on his right leg, so overall this is positive news. Head coach Andrew Brunette said that they will know more once the swelling goes down. Ben Chiarot will meet the Panthers in Montreal and will likely make his debut, replacing Ekblad in the lineup. Mackenzie Weegar is expected to take his spot on PP1.
