Pittsburgh Penguins place forward Kasperi Kapanen in COVID protocol

The Pittsburgh Penguins have placed Kasperi Kapanen in the COVID protocol, raising their current number to eight if you count Pierre-Olivier Joseph, who tested positive just after being recalled to the taxi squad Tuesday. Sam Lafferty is also absent from the team with a non-COVID illness.

Kapanen joins Joseph, Dominik Simon, Teddy Blueger, Evan Rodrigues, Mike Matheson, John Marino and Tristan Jarry in the protocol, with the latter six all going in on Dec. 27. That leaves the Penguins quite a bit shorthanded for the moment, though given the postponements that have already happened they won’t play again until Sunday.

Still, that doesn’t give any of these players time to exit the protocol if they’re serving the usual 10-day quarantine. Kapanen and the others will likely miss Sunday’s game against the San Jose Sharks, leaving the team with some work to do in order to put together a competitive roster. With Jason Zucker out with an injury as well, the depth will be tested in Pittsburgh.