Lee Stempniak has been quarantined since Thursday under the belief that he might have the mumps. The Rangers confirmed on Monday that he has tested positive, per the Bergen Record.
He’s the 17th player to be inflicted with the disease since the outbreak began, although that’s only using the official diagnoses as a guide. There are other players not included on that list are under suspicion such as Martin Havlat and Patrik Elias in New Jersey as well as Steve Downie, Brandon Sutter and Thomas Greiss in Pittsburgh.
That figure also doesn’t include any St. Louis Blues players even though it’s believed that they were one of the early teams to battle the outbreak. However, the team didn’t confirm that any of its players had the mumps.
The good news for Stempniak is that he’s starting to feel better and was even able to skate on Monday. His isolation period ends today, so he’ll be eligible to participate in this morning’s practice. It’s not clear if the Rangers see him as a possibility to play tonight, but he will probably be kept out of the lineup until after the holiday break.