Letang Cleared to Rejoin the Team

Kris Letang has been cleared to rejoin the Penguins after completing his COVID-19 protocol.

The 34-year-old defenseman, who has missed the last four games, had his last cardiac screening this morning before taking the ice at the end of practice on Monday at UPMC Lemieux Sports Complex. Head coach Mike Sullivan said he anticipates Letang will skate with the Penguins on Wednesday after a team day off on Tuesday.
"It's good to see him," said Brian Dumoulin, Letang's longtime D partner. "Those 10 days, they feel like a long, long time. We've gone through it with a few guys now, and obviously you miss a bunch of games, but you also miss out on seeing them for a little while. It's definitely good to have him back and good to see him around the locker room again."
Since Letang was symptomatic, he wasn't able to work out and exercise during his isolation period as much as the players who were asymptomatic, like Jeff Carter and Jake Guentzel. That may play a factor in whether or not Letang will be ready to play in time for Pittsburgh's next game on Thursday versus Philadelphia.
"Time will tell," Sullivan said. "Everybody's a little bit different in how it affects them. When he joins the team on Wednesday, we'll see where he is at that point, and we'll make decisions accordingly."
While Letang has been cleared, unfortunately defensemen Marcus Pettersson and Chad Ruhwedel have been added to the NHL's COVID-19 Protocol List after both confirming positive. Sullivan said that Pettersson has shown signs of having symptoms, while Ruhwedel is currently asymptomatic.
After not having a single case during all of last season, the Penguins have certainly been hit hard this year when it comes the virus, as they've now had six players enter the protocol: Pettersson, Ruhwedel, Letang, Carter, Guentzel and Zach Aston-Reese.
"Unfortunately for us, we've gotten it a few times. I don't think it's because guys aren't diligent, or aren't doing the right thing," Sullivan said. "I just think this is part of the world we're living in right now. It's a little bit different this year, because there's some semblance of normalcy. The protocols aren't mandated. But I think our guys do a really good job in just using common sense."
With three of their usual defensemen unavailable for today's practice, the Penguins called up P.O Joseph from Wilkes-Barre/Scranton. The 22-year-old has collected three assists in six games while helping the team jump out to a 5-1-0-1 record.
"We're really excited about how far P.O's game has come," Sullivan said. "He's a great kid. He's a hard-working guy. He loves hockey. And he's getting better. He's been knocking on the door here for a while. And so we're excited about his overall two-way game. He's always part of the conversation when we're discussing lineups, whether it be the top six or seven that we have.
"For obvious reasons, with the two guys going down with COVID, (general manager Ron Hextall) made the decision to call him up. And now he's in the conversation on whether or not he's in the lineup."
Joseph said that starting the year with WBS has been beneficial for him, as it helped him refocus after not doing as well as he would have liked during training camp.
"I think it was a great decision," Joseph said. "Wilkes is a great place, and we're really lucky to have the facilities and the staff there. The organization is Class A, even in Wilkes. So the American League is a great league, and I'm able to develop there with the great group of guys that we have. It's fun off the ice, but also on the ice, we're battling hard."
Whenever he does make his season debut for Pittsburgh, Joseph said he just wants to bring a solid defensive game along with a touch of offense. And Sullivan said that consistency will also be key for Joseph, who played in 16 total games for Pittsburgh last season.
"I don't really put expectations on it," Joseph said. "Honestly, I just go day-by-day. I think it's a classic sentence, but it's a process to get to the NHL. I love the progress that I've been making for the last three years here in this organization. So I think I'm just going to try to improve every time I'm on the ice and in the gym."
Here is the workflow the Penguins used…
Guentzel-Crosby-Rodrigues
Zucker-Carter-Heinen
Aston-Reese-Blueger-McGinn
O'Connor-Boyle-Kapanen
Matheson-Dumoulin
Joseph-Marino
Riikola-Friedman
PP1) Riikola, Crosby, Carter, Guentzel, Rodrigues
PP2) Marino, Matheson, Zucker, Kapanen, Heinen