Hischier, Graves Ready to Be Back | BLOG

There was a lot of energy and smiles in the Devils' first full team practice following four days off between the COVID pause and winter holiday break. Returning to the ice were the five players who were on the NHL's COVID-19 protocol list prior to that break: forwards Nico Hischier and Jesper Boqvist, and defensemen P.K. Subban, Christian Jaros, and Ryan Graves.
Following their first full practice back from COVID, Graves and Hischier discussed their experiences over the last two weeks.
"I feel good, I was lucky I didn't have any symptoms or anything like that. I just stayed home and took the needed time," Graves said. "I have no lingering symptoms, so I feel fine."
"I had one night of symptoms but then the rest of it was totally fine. I feel now, all good," Hischier said Sunday. "I think people know that have been in quarantine, it's not your favorite thing to do. But it is what it is. I tried not to think about it too much."

"We've been struggling a little bit as of late and then to not be able to help that, you just feel helpless and you feel like you're kind of letting your teammates down," Graves reflected. "But I'm happy to have it over with and be healthy now, and kind of get past it with a nice little pause for everyone to get healthy again."
Although only five players were out due to COVID, many others were battling various non-COVID related illnesses. The Devils roster was depleted and struggling in its games against the Philadelphia Flyers, Vegas Golden Knights, Detroit Red Wings and Pittsburgh Penguins. However, with multiple consecutive days off, the team is healthy and ready to reset following a six-game losing skid, and rough last month.
"We had a lot of guys missing, every body was a little bit sick, not even COVID related," Hischier said. "It's a good break for us to hit the reset button and that's what we're trying to do to come out of it.
"Every team has to deal with it, and it's just good to be back."