Wild's Brad Hunt added to NHL's COVID protocols

The Wild now has nine players unavailable due to the NHL's COVID protocols after defenseman Brad Hunt was added to the list Sunday.

Hunt joined Nick Bjugstad, Nick Bonino, Ian Cole, Joel Eriksson Ek, Marcus Foligno, Marcus Johansson, Jared Spurgeon and Nico Sturm in the protocols. Cole was placed in the protocols on Friday.

On Wednesday, the NHL paused the Wild's season through at least Tuesday – postponing four games – and closed the team's facilities after the team added five players to the protocols.

Foligno was the first active Wild player to be added on Sunday, before the Wild played the second of three straight games against Colorado. The Avalanche became the seventh team to go on hiatus on Thursday after Tyson Jost and Gabriel Landeskog were placed in the protocols. Colorado added Samuel Girard to the NHL's COVID protocols on Sunday.

A COVID protocols absence can be the result of several factors including a positive test, unconfirmed positive test and contact tracing.

The NHL does not announce whether players on the list have tested positive for the virus, but those players can't practice, play or travel with the team until getting cleared from the league's protocols.

While idle, Wild players are quarantining and undergoing daily testing. The NHL is reviewing and revising the team's remaining schedule.

Since the Wild was shut down, the league has implemented more preventive measures – including removing the glass behind both benches.