Oilers Josh Archibald taking a beating on social media after announcement from Edmonton's GM

Josh Archibald of the Edmonton Oilers is taking a ton of flak on social media after the team's GM announced that one of his players has chosen not to get vaccinated and will end up missing up to 30 games this season. While Holland chose not to name the player, Archibald's timeline of Tweets - in which he talks about the "plandemic", calls on Dr. Anthony Fauci to be fired and retweets videos from One America News Network (OAN) - pretty much gives it away.

Archibald was born in Manitoba, but played hockey in Minnesota after his parents moved there. He holds American citizenship. Some Edmonton fans are taking the opportunity to rip into Archibald on social media for his apparent refusal to get vaccinated, which does put the team in a tough spot when it comes to making lineup decisions. He will be unable to participate in games in the US as he would have to isolate for 14 days every time he returned to Canada.

While some teams, such as the Columbus Blue Jackets and New York Islanders, are telling players they must be vaccinated in order to attend training camp and play for the team, that is not the league's policy. The NHL has stated that players who choose not to get vaccinated will not be paid for any games they miss because of it. Steve Yzerman announced Wednesday that Tyler Bertuzzi has chosen not to get his COVID-19 shots and therefore will miss several games in 2021-22. Yzerman told reporters that he cannot force bertuzzi to get the vaccine and respects that he gets to make a choice. New Jersey Devils GM Tom Fitzgerald said there is one member of his team refusing to get vaccinated. He told reporters it will be obvious who it is in the coming days and they are "trying to help him."

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