14 former Rockets crack NHL opening night rosters, 5 on taxi squads
With the NHL opening their shortened 2020-21 season tonight, teams were required to submit their final rosters—which features 14 Rockets across the league.
The NHL’s 56-game regular season will run from Jan. 13, 2021, and ending May 8.
Below is the list of Rockets on rosters by team:
Calgary Flames: Mikael Backlund, Dillon Dube
Chicago Blackhawks: Duncan Keith
Dallas Stars: Jamie Benn, Blake Comeau
Edmonton Oilers: Tyson Barrie, Leon Draisaitl
Montreal Canadiens: Shea Weber
Nashville Predators: Colton Sissons
New Jersey Devils: Damon Severson
Tampa Bay Lightning: Cal Foote
Vancouver Canucks: Alex Edler, Tyler Myers
Winnipeg Jets: Josh Morrissey
In addition to the 14 players, five former Rockets have been named to taxi squads.
NHL teams are able to have four to six players on taxi squads after they clear waivers, expanding the size of the team beyond the 23-man limit. Players on taxi squads can be put on the active roster as late as 5 p.m. ET on a game day, giving clubs a better chance to having four lines, three defensive pairings and two goaltenders even if rosters take a hit because of COVID-19 protocols.
Below is the list of Rockets on taxi squads by team:
New Jersey Devils: Nolan Foote, Nick Merkley
Philadelphia Flyers: Carsen Twarynski
Tampa Bay Lightning: Luke Schenn
Vegas Golden Knights: Gage Quinney
Twenty-seven Rockets originally attended NHL camps when they opened earlier this month.
Justin Kirkland (Calgary), Lassi Thomson (Ottawa), Rourke Chartier (Toronto) Kole Lind (Vancouver), Kaedan Korczak (Vegas) and Lucas Johansen (Washington) were re-assigned to the American Hockey League.
Devante Stephens was re-assigned to the ECHL and Michael Krutil (Chicago) was released.
