Kasperi Kapanen won't be the only guy missing when the Penguins gather for Day 1 of training camp Sunday at PPG Paints Arena.
Sure, Kapanen, acquired from Toronto after last season to be their first-line right winger, figures to be the most prominent absentee while he works to resolve the immigration issues that have prevented him from traveling here from Finland, but some others who normally would be present for camp also won't make it.
Jim Rutherford said Ryan Bowness, the team's director of pro scouting, is the only member of the pro-scouring staff scheduled to be on hand, presumably because of pandemic-related considerations.
"We'll have a few people from Hockey Ops here, but not as many as we normally do," Rutherford said.
The scouts generally fill a few different roles during camp, including coaching some squads during scrimmages.
The greatest impact of their absence, though, likely will be the input they could have provided on personnel decisions, such as who gets on the major-league roster and the "taxi squad" that teams will have in 2020-21.
Rutherford, though, said he doesn't anticipate that the scouts not attending will cause any major problems.
"I don't think so," he said.
Regardless of who is evaluating players' on-ice performances, one factor that could influence which ones turn up on the taxi squad is the American Hockey League's announcement a few days ago that it plans to conduct a season, beginning Feb. 5.
"I suppose it will (have an impact), that it will be part of the decisions we make," Rutherford said.
He and his staff will have to weigh the benefits of having players, especially young ones, who appear to be capable of contributing in the NHL, if needed, placed on the taxi squad, as opposed to having them hone their skills in games for Wilkes-Barre/Scranton.
"We'll deal with it on an individual basis," Rutherford said. "We'll rely heavily on (director of player development) Scott Young, as far as the development of players. It's a fine line in making that decision, because if we had a rash of injuries in one week, who do we want in that lineup, and how do we do that.
"There's going to be a lot of thought put into this. We certainly won't make the decision until we get near the end of camp."
Rutherford noted that the makeup of the taxi squad can be altered, that it is not limited to the players assigned there before the regular-season opener Jan. 13 in Philadelphia.
"When you get to a certain point, you can change those (tax-squad members) out," he said, adding that "it does make it very convenient for us that our (AHL) affiliate team is in the same state."
Because Pittsburgh and Wilkes-Barre are in Pennsylvania, players moving between the taxi squad and the AHL would not be subject to a coronavirus-related quarantine when their status changes.