In hockey there is game tape, there is stick tape -- both black and white -- and, as the Penguins are finding out, there is also red tape.
In the case of Derick Brassard's attempt to join his new team, it's the latter. Some bureaucratic paper shuffling still needs to be done before the newly-acquired center can get to work for the Penguins.
Jim Rutherford told DKPittsburghSports.com Sunday night that the organization wasn't sure exactly when that might be, but they were hoping that it would be sooner rather than later.
"We have all our filings in there for when the (immigration) office opens Monday morning and it depends on how many applications they are dealing with what the length of time will be," Rutherford told me. "You really don't know. It can be a couple days, it can be a week. So we don't control that. We don't know."
It would seem highly unlikely that Brassard will skate with the Penguins when they return to practice Monday morning at 11 a.m. in Cranberry Township. If he were to play in Tuesday night's game against the Devils at PPG Paints Arena, Rutherford said it would be a "best-case scenario."
Whether Brassard would need to get in a practice to get acquainted with his new linemates will depend on the player. Usually it varies, according to Rutherford. But Brassard, an 11-year veteran who has been traded twice before, probably wouldn't need much.
Rutherford says Brassard has been skating on his own in Toronto, the closest city where he can catch a direct flight to Pittsburgh.
"When he gets the green light from immigration, he'll get the first flight out of Toronto," Rutherford said.
Of course, Monday could be a big day for the Penguins whether Brassard crosses the U.S.-Canadian border or not. The trade deadline will strike at 3 p.m., and Rutherford could be looking to make another move even after Friday's blockbuster three-team trade landed the top two-way center available.
If the Penguins were looking to upgrade their defensive depth, Rutherford wouldn't say. But he isn't ruling it out either .
"We're staying in this," Rutherford told me. "We're listening and looking into every situation. I don't know which way it's going to go."