The NHL entered 2021 with taxis squads.

It will exit 2021 with taxi squads.

On Sunday night, the league announced a handful of operational changes to combat the still-present realities of covid-19.

Over the past two weeks, well over 100 players — including Penguins forward Evan Rodrigues on Sunday — have been placed into the league’s protocols for the virus.

Among those changes will be the return of taxi squads.

During the pandemic-shortened 2020-21 campaign, which took place entirely within the 2021 calendar year, NHL teams had taxi squads of reserves in the event incumbent players were unable to play because of covid-19.

The league allowed teams to begin utilizing taxi squads again Sunday. They are scheduled to be in place until every team’s final game before the start of the All-Star break, currently slated to begin Feb. 3. As of now, the Penguins’ final game before the break is a home contest against the Washington Capitals on Feb. 1.

All teams will be permitted to stock their taxi squad with up to six players from their minor-league affiliates.

There are some more detailed rules on who will be able to be included on taxi squads compared to last season, however.

Those ineligible for the taxi squad include:

• Players who were on a club’s active roster, injured reserve or under a nonroster designation (such as long-term injured reserve) as of Dec. 22.

• Anyone who is exempt from regular-season waivers, such as a player on an entry-level contract.

• Players who have been on an NHL roster for 54 days between Oct. 12 and Dec. 22 or participated in 16 of their club’s previous 20 games.

Other rules include:

• There is no minimum number of players required to stock a taxi squad or even a requirement to have a taxi squad.

• No player is to be on the taxi squad for more than 20 cumulative days.

• Players on the taxi squad will count as being in the minors for the purposes of the salary cap.

Independent of the taxi squad, in the event a team can not dress a full lineup of 12 forwards, six defensemen and two goaltenders, a roster emergency exception may be utilized should a player need to be recalled and his salary cap is less than $1 million.

To date, the NHL has postponed 67 games with more likely to come.

The Penguins have had four consecutive games postponed, including scheduled road contests against the Boston Bruins on Monday and the Toronto Maple Leafs on Wednesday. Their next contest is scheduled to be a road game against the Ottawa Senators on Friday.

In addition to not having played a game since a 3-2 road win against the New Jersey Devils on Dec. 19, the Penguins have not practiced since Tuesday.

They are scheduled to next practice Monday in Cranberry.

Short of the occasional Olympic break — which the NHL pulled out of last week — breaks in the NHL schedule as lengthy as the ongoing respite were a completely foreign notion.

At least before the pandemic wreaked havoc on the business of professional hockey, to say nothing of seemingly every other walk of life.

“That’s just been part of the new normal in today’s pro sports,” Penguins coach Mike Sullivan said Tuesday. “Hopefully, there’s going to be a point when we get on the other side of this pandemic. We’re all looking forward to that. In the meantime, we’re all trying to do the very best we can to play the hand we’re dealt. There’s some things that we can control, and that’s where our focus is. Then there are others that we can, like right now, for example, when they (postpone) games.”

“We’re just going to try to react the right way. That’s the message that we’re carrying on with our players, and that’s how we’re going to operate as the Pittsburgh Penguins.”

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