The Pittsburgh Penguins placed three players on injured reserve prior to the start of the season.

Forwards Zach Aston-Reese, Sam Miletic and defenseman Zach Trotman will open the campaign on injured reserve.

Aston-Reese still is recovering from surgery on his left shoulder in August. Based on the time frame of six months initially offered by the team, Aston-Reese would be able to return to the lineup in mid-February.

He has been skating with members of the Penguins’ taxi squad in recent days.

The team has not offered any elaboration on the status of Miletic or Trotman.

Along with defenseman Josh Maniscalco, they have not skated with the team since practice was canceled Saturday for what the team termed “as an abundance of caution due to potential exposure of covid-19.”

Per league rules, the NHL, and not teams, will identify any players who are absent from games or practice due to coroanvirus protocols.

On Wednesday night, the league announced forward Kasperi Kapanen is the Penguins’ only player currently absent for that reason. Due to a hold up in his immigration status, the Finnish-born Kapanen was not able to begin his league-mandated quarantine in Pittsburgh until Saturday.

Maniscalco was assigned to Wilkes-Barre/Scranton of the American Hockey League.

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