Letang’s health history is not an issue

Plenty of questions will need to be answered before the NHL can pull off its ambitious 24-team postseason plan. But, at least for now, Kris Letang’s health doesn’t appear to be one of them.

“Not at all,” Letang said Thursday on a conference call with local reporters.

In 2014, Letang suffered a stroke, a scary ordeal that kept the the All-Star defenseman out for six weeks. Doctors believe the stroke was caused by a hole in his heart that didn’t close properly during his development.

When it comes to COVID19, the 33-year-old would not be at any greater risk of contracting the virus. But, some — including Letang himself — had questioned if his preexisting condition might increase his chances of a bad outcome should he contract the virus, considering COVID-19 has been found to cause strokes in otherwise young and healthy

individuals.

“I had my fair share of questions,” Letang said. “They’ve all been answered. Certainly, I can say I’ll be safe to play.”

Over the past couple of weeks, Letang has been forced to think about a lot more than his own participation in the playoffs.

As the Penguins’ player rep, he has been at the center of many return-to-play discussions. Friday, he was part of the 31-player group that voted in favor of a 24team format. Letang said the players had to juggle the desire to make the format fair for the teams on the edge of earning a playoff berth, while also finding a number that made sense.

“Twenty-four has always been the best number,” Letang said. “Unless you decide the season stops and you take the first eight teams of each conference.”

This format will ultimately match the No. 5seeded Penguins against No. 12 Montreal Canadiens in the so-called “qualifying round.” Though the Penguins are heavily favored, Letang expects a young, fast team with great goaltending.

“Every single team in this league is a good matchup,” Letang said. “We know it because all year we have to battle against teams. It didn’t matter where they were standing in the league.”

Should the Penguins advance, it remains unclear who their opponent would be or how long that series will be. The NHL and NHLPA already have agreed upon a best-of-five format for the qualifying round and best-of-seven format in the conference finals and Stanley Cup final. But the league is still trying to decide between five or seven for the first round (Round of 16) and the second round (Round of 8). Letang seems to favor seven games throughout.

“Everyone is used to bestof-seven,” he said. “You know how it’s structured. You know how it feels if you lose the first two or win the first two. You know all the scenarios that can go through in a best-of-seven. I don’t know if there’s any players in this league right now that played back in the day in the best-of-five.”

Even with the format decided and Letang confident he’ll be able to participate, the players probably have another vote or two ahead of them before they officially agree to return. Letang said safety is the biggest concern.

“That’s the No. 1 thing,” Letang said. “Guys want to be secure.”

The other main issue that will have to be settled is what to do about families. Several players around the league expressed concerns about leaving their loved ones for a significant period of time during a pandemic.

“It’s not a road trip for seven days or 10 days like we’re used to in the season,” Letang said. “Guys are going to be away from their families for an extended period of time.”

Even with some issues to iron out, players should be returning to work soon.

As a part of the NHL’s Phase Two, small groups of

Penguins could begin skating in player-led workouts at UPMC Lemieux Sports Complex sometime in early June. Letang said he plans to be part of these voluntary workouts, which will be the first time many of the players have stepped on the ice in about 12 weeks.

“In those Phase Two informal skates, it’s going to be up to the players to ramp up their work and make sure they’re able to really simulate the conditioning style of a game,” Letang said. “When training camp is going to start, I think coaches are really going to focus on the collective side, because you don’t have that much time and you’re going to get right into it.”