during the pandemic, archibald made his views about covid known on social media, tweeting out covid-denial information.
the diagnosis of myocarditis puts his career in serious jeopardy.
the edmonton journal reported that archibald had no symptoms when he left the team after playoffs, but testing found he has the antibodies now.
“so at some point he got covid,” said tippett.
the edmonton oilers organization had attempted to get archibald to change his mind about getting a vaccine. general manager ken holland and tippett had talked to him before training camp opened and laid out the penalty for being unvaxxed: he would have to quarantine for two weeks every time he came back from a u.s. road trip and he could miss 30 or more games because of it and lose his salary.
archibald had one year left on his contract at $1.5 million salary.
the nhl says 90 to 95 per cent of their players will be vaccinated by the start of the season oct. 12, but there might still be a few who refuse. if an unvaccinated player tests positive for covid, they will be suspended without pay.
other professional sports leagues are also navigating the vaccine playing field. andrew wiggins, the canadian basketball star, had originally refused to get vaccinated and faced the prospect of not being allowed into his golden state warrior team’s stadium building in san francisco. proof of vaccination is required for large indoor events there. the toronto-area native has since received his covid-19 vaccine and is eligible to play in all games.