Penguins forward Jake Guentzel tests positive for covid-19

Pittsburgh Penguins forward Jake Guentzel tested positive for covid-19 and was placed in the NHL’s protocol for the virus.

The team announced his status Sunday morning. He is the second Penguins player to test positive since the start of training camp, joining forward Zach Aston-Reese.

Per NHL protocols, players who test positive “shall remain in isolation, shall not exercise and shall not participate in any training activity or have any contact (other than remotely) with any other personnel for the duration of their isolation.”

Guentzel’s status for the team’s first game of the regular season, a road game on Oct. 13 against the Tampa Bay Lightning, is now uncertain.

League protocols call for players who test positive to remain in isolation for 10 days. However, assuming that player is asymptomatic and fully vaccinated, he may be released from isolation if he tests negative on two consecutive days within that 10-day window.

The team did not announce if Guentzel is experiencing any symptoms. Last week, coach Mike Sullivan described Aston-Reese’s symptoms as “mild.”

At the opening of training camp Sept. 23, general manager Ron Hextall said only one player in the organization had not yet been fully vaccinated. That player, whom Hextall declined to identify, was scheduled to have his vaccination completed in a “few weeks,” Hextall said.

Forward Dominik Simon replaced Guentzel in the lineup for Sunday’s 5-1 preseason win against the Detroit Red Wings at PPG Paints Arena.

After the game, Sullivan indicated the team already has begun altering some of its procedures with regard to covid-19.

“We’re already in the process of meeting with our team doctors and just talking about re-implementing some of the mitigation strategies that we utilized last (season),” Sullivan said. “Our players did a terrific job just with their diligence and discipline to adhere to some of the protocols that were put forth by the league last year. And we were able to get through the season without a single (player being diagnosed with covid-19).

“But right now, our team is going to do everything in its power to get ahead of this. For example, we’re going to start testing our players every single day and our staff. So everyone around the team at this point will test every single day here for the foreseeable future until we can get on the other side of this.”

Before Sunday, the team had been testing players every few days.

After the contest, Penguins defensemen John Marino, Mike Matheson, goaltender Tristan Jarry, forward Kasperi Kapanen and Sullivan wore face coverings during their media availabilities. Before this point of training camp and preseason, the vast majority of players had not done so.

Back to the Olympics

As he still recovers from offseason surgery on his left wrist, Penguins forward Sidney Crosby appears to be a lock for Canada’s Olympic team in the upcoming Beijing Games in February.

Crosby as well Oilers forward Connor McDavid and Vegas Golden Knights defenseman Alex Pietrangelo had their names submitted as a formality by Hockey Canada general manager Doug Armstrong to the Canadian Olympic Committee last month.

In an interview with the NHL’s Web site, Armstrong described Crosby as “our team leader.”

Crosby previously played in the 2010 and 2014 Olympics, winning gold each time.

Contract extensions

Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins coach J.D. Forrest and assistant coach Kevin Porter were signed to two-year contract extensions that will keep them on staff through the 2023-24 season.

Forrest is entering his second season as Wilkes-Barre/Scranton’s coach. During the pandemic-shortened 2020-21 campaign, he guided the club to a 13-13-4-2 record.

Porter, a former Penguins forward who was a member of the 2016 Stanley Cup championship team, also is entering his second season with the club in his current capacity.