The Penguins' players will take the ice Tuesday at the UPMC Lemieux Sports Complex in Cranberry, marking their first team activity since the NHL season shut down to coronavirus on March 12.
What will these voluntary informal skates look like?
Here's what we know:
WHO WILL BE THERE?
Only six players will be allowed in the building at a time to ensure proper social distancing, and they will be joined by a limited number of training and equipment staff members. Just as is the case with any pre-training camp informal skates, coaches will be allowed to observe the skates from a separate area, but they will not be allowed to participate in the skates themselves. Players are able to bring in outside goaltending coaches, however.
No fans or media will be allowed in the building or on the property, per the NHL's Phase 2 guidelines.
Some extra players who are expected to serve as Black Aces are already in Pittsburgh, and will be able to join in the skates.
We don't know which players will participate on Tuesday, but we know of some players who have already returned to Pittsburgh. This is not a comprehensive list of players who are in town, and only includes those we know have returned to Pittsburgh or have remained in Pittsburgh during the shutdown:
Forwards:
Jake Guentzel
Sidney Crosby
Evgeni Malkin
Conor Sheary
Zach Aston-Reese
Bryan Rust
Anthony Angello
Defensemen:
Kris Letang
Brian Dumoulin
Chad Ruhwedel
Goaltenders:
Casey DeSmith
Alex D'Orio
WHAT WILL THEY DO?
Players have already undergone medical testing, and will be able to skate first thing Tuesday. Once on the ice, players are still required to maintain social distancing. That means the skates will look something like this scene out of Edmonton, after Oilers players returned to the ice on Monday.
Alex Chiasson, Matt Benning, Kris Russell, Tyler Benson & Stuart Skinner are on the ice for the #Oilers today at @RogersPlace as Phase 2 of the @NHL's Return to Play Plan is officially underway.
Welcome home, fellas! 🙂 pic.twitter.com/E8DUaBvaLe
— Edmonton Oilers (@EdmontonOilers) June 8, 2020
Defenseman Matt Benning told Edmonton media after the skate that forward Alex Chiasson led the drills since no coaches were on the ice.
The Islanders also opened their facility to players on Monday, and forward Josh Bailey said the skate was "basic stuff":
"We just kind of went through some puck-handling, pretty basic stuff," Bailey said. "For preparation, it was different. We were all in a different situation; some guys had home gyms, some guys didn't. ... I think there's no substitute for skating, so that side of things will be nice. I think our schedule going forward will probably just increase as we go and treat it like as if it were a typical August of leading into training camp."
WHO ELSE IS SKATING?
The Oilers, Islanders, Lightning, Flyers, Maple Leafs and Golden Knights reopened their facilities on Monday, and more teams are expected to open their facilities throughout the week.
The Coyotes, Blue Jackets, Flames, Canadiens and Avalanche are expected to open their facilities later in the week. Other teams have yet to announce when their facilities will reopen, some due to the lack of players still remaining in the area.
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