NEW YORK — The NHL has postponed the Calgary Flames’ next three games after six players and a staff member entered the league’s COVID-19 protocol over a 24-hour period.

The Flames announced Monday that forwards Elias Lindholm, Andrew Mangiapane, Brad Richardson and Adam Ruzicka and defensemen Chris Tanev and Nikita Zadorov were in the protocol.

Postponed games include Monday night’s game at Chicago, Tuesday’s game at Nashville and Thursday’s home game against Toronto.

Later Monday, the Carolina Hurricanes announced star center Sebastian Aho, rookie center Seth Jarvis and a member of the training staff have entered the COVID-19 protocol.

The team said all three would remain in Vancouver. The Hurricanes lost there 2-1 on Sunday, with Aho missing the game with what the team originally said was an illness. Carolina played at Calgary on Thursday, winning 2-1 in overtime.

The league said in a news release that the Flames games were postponed due to concern with continued spread and the likelihood of additional positive cases. The Flames’ training facilities were also closed. Calgary is the third NHL team this season to have games postponed due to a COVID-19 outbreak. Last month, the Ottawa Senators had three games postponed and the New York Islanders had two postponed.

STARS: The Dallas Stars placed goalie Anton Khudobin on waivers Monday, a move that could allow the club to send its 2020 Stanley Cup Final starter to the minors. Teams have until Tuesday afternoon to claim Khudobin, who is in the second year of a three-year contract that has an annual salary cap hit of $3.3 million.

Khudobin has been relegated to the third option behind 22-year-old Jake Oettinger and veteran Braden Holtby, who signed as a free agent in the offseason. If the 35-year-old Khudobin goes unclaimed, Dallas can send him to the Texas Stars of the AHL while getting some salary cap relief.

Khudobin couldn’t keep himself in the rotation despite Ben Bishop not being able to return from a knee injury. General Manager Jim Nill has said Bishop’s career is over because of a degenerative condition.

Khudobin helped the Stars reach the championship round in the playoff bubble in Canada during the pandemic-altered 2019-20 season.

With Bishop limited to three games in the 2020 playoffs by the knee injury, Khudobin was 14-10 with a 2.69 goals-against average and .917 save percentage. Tampa Bay beat Dallas in six games to win the title. Khudobin has a 236-114-90 record over 13 seasons with five franchises. He’s in his fourth season with the Stars.