Here are today’s news and links:

Rangers News:

• Larry Brooks sees Ryan Lindgren’s placement on the COVID protocol lists as a final opportunity for Libor Hajek to establish himself as a full time NHL player (NY Post)
• Brooks also notes that after nearly two weeks out of game action, the Blueshirts are set to square off with the Florida Panthers tonight (NY Post)
• Colin Stephenson points out the Patrik Nemeth was able to clear COVID protocols without missing any games due to the various postponements around the league (Newsday)
• Vincent Mercogliano believes the first few games out of the break will serve as a litmus test for where the Blueshirts are at (LoHud)
• Arthur $taple an$wer$ fan que$tion$ about New York’$ approach to the trade deadline, Kaapo Kakko, and more (The Athletic)/

Around the NHL:

• Sean Leahy reports that Team USA forfeited their round robin game at the World Junior Championships against Switzerland due to a mandatory team quarantine following two positive tests for COVID-19 (NBC Sports)
• Mike Johnston hears that Boston Bruins’ forward Brad Marchand was highly critical of the agreement between the NHL and NHLPA that allowed for the return of taxi squads in the wake of rising COVID-19 cases, but not for NHL players that would have wanted to skate in the upcoming Olympics (Sportsnet)/