The number of Blackhawks on the COVID-19 Protocol list shrunk again on Wednesday afternoon, with the team announcing that forward Lucas Wallmark had been removed from the list and would immediately resume team activities.
Wallmark was added to the last two weeks ago on Jan. 27 and was the third Chicago player on it, following teammates Alex DeBrincat and Adam Boqvist. At its peak, there were five Blackhawks on the list, with Ryan Carpenter and Nicolas Beaudin the other two. After Wallmark’s removal, Carpenter is now the only Chicago player still in COVID-19 Protocol.
Wallmark joined the Blackhawks as a free agent signing in the last offseason after spending the first four seasons of his NHL career with the Carolina Hurricanes and Florida Panthers. Wallmark was originally a fourth-round pick (97th overall) of Carolina in the 2014 NHL Draft and made his debut in the 2016-17 season. He was traded to Florida as part of the Vincent Trocheck deal last February before signing with Chicago in October.
Through his first five games with the Blackhawks, Wallmark had no goals and three assists while averaging 15:30 of ice time. All three of those points came in his last two games: one in the overtime loss to the Panthers on Jan. 19 and two assists in a Jan. 22 win over the Red Wings. Wallmark was then a healthy scratch for the Jan. 24 game against Detroit in favor of Carl Soderberg before being added to the COVID-19 Protocol three days later.
Wallmark and the Blackhawks return to home ice on Thursday night, hosting the Blue Jackets for a 7 p.m. start at the United Center.