Jim Rutherford's team lost 302 man-games to injury and illness before the NHL's truncated 2019-20 regular season ended March 12.
And long before the training camp that will prepare the Penguins for their qualifying-round series against Montreal began, Rutherford learned that forwards Dominik Simon and Nick Bjugstad needed surgeries that would prevent them from participating.
Considering all of the franchise's medical misadventures since last fall, then, Rutherford seems understandably pleased that, at least at this point, he expects everyone in camp to be available for Game 1 against the Canadiens Aug. 1 in Toronto.
"As of today, we will (have a full complement of healthy players)," he said Tuesday.
That's particularly significant because Sidney Crosby left the ice during a scrimmage Saturday and did not take part in practice Sunday or another scrimmage the following day. The Penguins were off Tuesday, and it is not known whether he plans to practice Wednesday.
Because of regulations imposed by the league as part of its Return to Play protocol, the Penguins are prohibited from discussing the nature of Crosby's issue, let alone its severity. Unofficially, the word from inside the organization has been that Crosby's problem does not appear to be serious, and that keeping him off the ice has been primarily a precaution.
Even with Crosby missing for the past few workouts, however, Rutherford likes just about everything he has seen from his team during the past week.
"It's been good," he said. "I like our work ethic, our tempo. These guys have worked as hard as they can to put themselves in a position to do well."
Rutherford, like a lot of observers, has been especially impressed by Evgeni Malkin, although he singled out Sam Lafferty for praise, too.
"This is not a surprise, but (Malkin) is really playing," he said. "He obviously worked during the break and came in prepared and really has continued on where he left off during the season. He's had a great season and he's carried that on at camp. His line with Zucker and Rust appears to have good chemistry. He's having fun out there and he looks really good."
Lafferty, conversely, had a strong start to the regular season, but his play slipped and he spent part of the winter commuting between here and Wilkes-Barre, home of the Penguins' American Hockey League affiliate. He has, however, been consistently strong since the start of camp.
"Sam Lafferty appears to have taken another step," Rutherford said. "His foot speed has been really good. But I don't have any issues with any of the players. I think they've all come in and they all look pretty good."
And while there have been a few hiccups, like Matt Murray giving up seven goals during the scrimmage Saturday, Rutherford said he's seen no cause for concern about the guy who figures to be the starter in goal for Game 1 against Montreal.
"I don't have any issues with him," Rutherford said. "He's doing fine. He got the short straw in that game. He was playing against our top two lines and there were a lot of scoring chances. He made some good stops in that game. It was the first scrimmage. I wasn't concerned about the amount of goals that went in."
And, at least for the moment, he doesn't seem to be worried about the health and availability of his players, either.