On Monday, Penguins general manager Jim Rutherford held court with reporters to discuss details about his team as it prepares for a new season.

That’s nothing out of the ordinary.

He typically will stand behind a podium with backdrop complete with an advertisers’ logo in a cramped auxiliary meeting room at the team’s facility in Cranberry and field those questions on the first day of training camp.

But this year, it was different.

For the same reasons everything about 2020 has been different.

And for the same circumstances the 2020-21 season will be different.

Rutherford staged his “state of the franchise” news conference remotely, speaking through a squawky video chat from his home while a handful of players had informal skating sessions in Cranberry to prepare for camp, which is scheduled to open Jan. 3 at PPG Paints Arena.

And only 10 days after that, the NHL’s 103rd season will open in the midst of a worldwide pandemic that has disrupted nearly every walk of life.

With 56 games scheduled for each team strictly against division foes, the 2020-21 regular season will be unlike any of the 102 that preceded it.

“There’s not a lot of margin for error,” Rutherford said. “With 56 games, there’s some margin for error compared to a 48-game schedule (such as during seasons shortened by labor unrest). But at the same time, everything is going to be important here. Everybody has to do their job.”

Rutherford’s job between the start of camp and the start of play will be to craft a roster with the maximum of 23 players as well as a “taxi squad” of reserves who will be on hand to replace any incumbents who are unavailable for any reason ranging from traditional hockey-related ailments to a positive test for the coronavirus.

He seems open to the possibility of blending veterans with prospects to create that group of reserves.

“We’ll see how guys are playing and where they’re at and the level of their game,” Rutherford said. “We have some prospects that are capable of being on the taxi squad. We have some guys here that are going to be knocking on the door to make the team. … So we’re going to have a pretty competitive camp, and that will dictate, ultimately, who stays on the taxi squad.”

Rutherford touched base on a handful of subjects regarding his roster:

• He said no players have indicated they wish to opt out of the season for medical reasons. For teams that participated in the 2020 postseason, as the Penguins did, the deadline for players to declare they are opting out is Sunday.

• Rutherford suggested forward Zach Aston-Reese still is on schedule to recovery from surgery on his left shoulder.

Aston-Reese underwent surgery in mid-August and was prescribed a time frame of six months to recuperate.

• With the NHL expected to make each team carry three goaltenders this season, it appears veteran Maxim Lagace, a free agent signing in October, will serve in reserve to starter Tristan Jarry and Casey DeSmith. Prospect Alex D’Orio will inhabit the fourth spot on the organization’s depth chart at that position.

Rutherford even suggested D’Orio could be assigned to the Penguins’ ECHL affiliate, the Wheeling Nailers, because of that team’s geographic proximity to Pittsburgh.

The ECHL opened play earlier this month, and the American Hockey League, which includes the Penguins’ primary affiliate with Wilkes-Barre/Scranton, is not scheduled to begin playing until Feb. 5.

“We’ve got Lagace who has experience,” Rutherford said. “He’s been in this situation before. He knows his role. He can do a good job with it. D’Orio would probably end up in Wheeling, which is good to have him close by. So you really have four goalies right here.”

• Goaltending prospect Emil Larmi, a native of Finland, will remain in his country because of medical protocols related to the pandemic. He is on loan to HPK of Finland’s Liiga.

“We decided, for his development, that it was better that we leave him in Europe instead of bringing him here for the quarantine period for training camp then, of course, sending him back to quarantine again,” Rutherford said. “We just figured it was best to leave him there for now.”

• Rutherford said the team will bring veteran forward Jordan Nolan, currently signed to Wilkes-Barre/Scranton on an AHL contract, to training camp as a nonroster invitee.

Nolan, 31, is a veteran of 375 NHL games and was a member of the Los Angeles Kings’ Stanley Cup championship teams in 2012 and ’14.

As evidenced by the 52 points and 347 penalty minutes he has accrued throughout his career, Nolan’s offensive abilities aren’t his most prominent feature as a hockey player.

“We like this player,” Rutherford said. “We’ll see how camp goes. At any time, we can flip his (AHL) dealt to an NHL contract. He brings a dimension to his game that’s important for teams.”

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