The Penguins are sidelining nine players who have potentially had secondary exposure to COVID-19.

The team learned of the possible secondary exposure on Sunday, July 12. The decision to isolate this group of players was made out of an abundance of caution in an effort to avoid exposure to anyone else within the organization. (2 of 3)

— Pittsburgh Penguins (@penguins) July 13, 2020

The nine players will not participate until they are deemed safe in accordance with NHL protocol and further test results. (3 of 3)

This is the type of thing I foresee happening around the league. The league needs to be assertive with their protocols and we are going to see a lot of these hiccups. These nine players might all be fine, but you still have to isolate them. This process of returning to play is not going to go off without a hitch.

The players are not yet in the bubble so there is reason to believe once they leave the United States and enter the NHL’s controlled environment things would be better, but we aren’t there yet.

Things are off to a bumpy start for the Penguins round one opponent as well.

At least three Montreal Canadiens players have tested positive for COVID-19 in recent days, league sources said. | @ArponBasu https://t.co/5wShwUToSg

— The Athletic NHL (@TheAthleticNHL) July 13, 2020

This is a problematic start for Montreal considering one of their best players is Type 1 diabetic:

“Considering Max’s health condition (Type 1 diabetes), both parties have agreed to take this responsible approach and to take this time to evaluate the ongoing situation, in order to make the best decision for Max’s health at the end of this period,” general manager Marc Bergevin said Sunday in a statement.

I can’t speak for Max Domi, but I don’t think he should be anywhere near the Montreal Canadiens for this tournament. It isn’t worth risking his life for this. He is the kind of player that should opt out and everyone should nod their head “yeah, that’s the right call.”

Karl Alzner has already opted out for the Canadiens.

We’ll continue to track this uncharted territory as things progress.

Thanks for reading!

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