Ottawa Senators defenceman Michael Del Zotto said his teammates who have been sidelined by COVID-19, to his knowledge, are not dealing with serious symptoms beyond the loss of taste and smell.

Del Zotto shared details on the team's COVID-19 outbreak, which has seen 10 players sidelined and at least three games postponed, while speaking to First Up on TSN Radio 1050 Toronto Wednesday morning.

"Some guys have had some loss of taste and smell, I think that's as serious as it's gotten, at least to my knowledge," Del Zotto said. "Everyone is vaccinated, so that certainly helps. It's just scary how quickly it can spread and how quickly it went through the team."

The NHL announced Monday that the Senators would have their next three games postponed after Drake Batherson became the 10th Senators player to join the COVID-19 protocol on Sunday. Teammates Austin Watson, Nick Holden, Josh Brown, Connor Brown, Dylan Gambrell, Matt Murray, Victor Mete, Alex Formenton and Nikita Zaitsev, along with associate coach Jack Capuano all also remain in the protocol as of Wednesday.

Del Zotto said the decision to postpone games, which came after the Senators played back-to-back over the weekend, caught him by surprise.

"We would have kept battling. It is what it is. I was under the impression at the start of the year that, no matter what, we wouldn't be postponing games," Del Zotto said. "To be honest, I was a bit shocked, especially this late into it because we do have some guys coming back this week I believe, the next couple days. (The league) felt it was safest this way to stop the virus... but we would have kept battling, no one was making excuses. (We) kind of had the next man up mentality, it was an opportunity for other guys to play (and) get looks within the organization, opportunity to play more minutes, be played in different spots.

"Similar to injuries, when things happen it's opportunity for other guys to step up and fill these roles."

The Senators, who saw games against the New Jersey Devils, Nashville Predators and New York Rangers postponed, are currently scheduled to return to game action on Monday against the Colorado Avalanche, in the first of a four-game road trip.