Could Bruins players opt to sit out NHL's return if games resume?

With a date of July 10 still penciled in as official start of training camps across North America, the NHL remains steadfast in its pursuit of resurrecting the dormant 2019-20 season — moving full steam ahead despite a growing surge of COVID-19 cases throughout the U.S.

Still, even with the NHL's steadfast intentions on bringing hockey back on TV and phone screens this summer, these best-laid plans can only fully be enacted once given the green light by the players — with the NHLPA still needing to approve both Phase 3 (training camp) and Phase 4 (return to game action) before the league takes another step forward.

And while the allure of playing for Lord Stanley's Cup should be enough to draw every warm-blooded hockey player back to team cities ahead of Phase 3, it's well within these players' rights — hell, given the current climate, it should be expected — for there to be a fair share of questions or reservations about pressing forward.

Whether it be general health and safety, reality of life in a "bubble" environment or the inability to see family for months on end, there are multiple issues that could prompt players to second-guess certain steps taken by the NHL in its "Return To Play" plan, or even sit out the league's resumption of play all together.

Such issues have prompted a number of NBA players to sit out of their league's return to game action down in Orlando — with the likes of Avery Bradley and Wilson Chandler skipping play to be with their families, while pending UFA Davis Bertans is also sitting out to avoid risking injury before a potential hefty pay day.

Even though we have a ways to go before the NHL reaches a point in which players could defer from returning to game action (Phases 3 + 4 need to be approved first), a number of individuals have already raised their fair share of questions about what lies ahead. Last week, Montreal netminder Carey Price believed that there'd be a 50/50 chance that the league and NHLPA would come to terms on an agreement regarding the finer details of training camp and actual playoff matchups.

"I have about an equal amount of optimism and pessimism," Price said. "It's a very unusual situation. I want the opportunity to play for a Stanley Cup, but I want to be able continue living life normally."

So what happens if Phase 3 is ready to be implemented, but a player, citing health or a variety of other reason, opts to sit out what remains of the 2019-20 season?



For Bruce Cassidy, such a scenario will hopefully not arise, given his club's drive of seeing this year through and avenging last season's crushing result. And while the B's bench boss doesn't believe any player has indicated so far that they'd have second thoughts about returning to play, Cassidy did add that such a decision is ultimately up the individual — who will be assuming plenty of risk upon hopping on a plane to a hub city in just a couple of weeks.

"Well, I'd tried to get to the root of — what is it? Is it simply a health issue or is there something deeper in there," Cassidy said. "Obviously, we would have to pull in management have a discussion with that player and if that's the way he felt, I don't know how we stop him. To me, it would be that simple. I think it's the players' right to work in a safe environment. That's why I think the NHL is doing everything they can, because they don't want this to happen. They want all their players participating. So that's a challenge they have. But that's the way we'd handle it.

"Obviously, we'd have to have an internal discussion. See if there's someone that could make them feel more comfortable to the decision as well on the medical side. So that'd be another area we'd have to look at — what is your exact concern? Maybe Doctor So-and-So can answer that question for you and go from there and see if that puts them more at ease. But at the end of the day, if that's the way they feel, then I think we have to honor their request."

For now, Cassidy is only focused on what he can control — which, granted, is not all that much during Phase 2, as coaches are currently barred from participating or even attending these voluntary workouts at Warrior Ice Arena.

Monday stood as the busiest morning at Warrior since early March, with Tuukka Rask and Jaroslav Halak joining a full practice squad that also included Zdeno Chara, Patrice Bergeron, Brad Marchand, Sean Kuraly, Matt Grzelcyk, John Moore and Par Lindholm. 

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Still, the sight of more and more players returning to the ice doesn't dispel the looming threat facing the NHL, as the league announced Monday afternoon that there have been 15 confirmed positive cases of COVID-19 among the more than 250 players planning on taking part in Phase 2. The league added that 11 additional players who have not been participating in Phase 2 have also tested positive for COVID-19.

But for Cassidy, the focus remains on putting his club in the best possible position if/when the NHL does resume. The first step will be the buy-in — a task that Cassidy doesn't believe will require much in terms persuasion.

"We'll get together with Bergy and Zee first and see how these skating pods have gone. Just to make sure everyone's in a good place," Cassidy said. "Get a temperature from those guys — like where are the players at? Are they comfortable with the situation? Are they nervous? Are they excited to get going? Do you feel that the group has done their work? So we'll get a little bit of that feedback first and then we'll go from there.

“I think the message for us hasn't changed in terms of what our ultimate goal is — our unfinished business is to be Stanley Cup champions. But inside of that message will be a lot of the unknown and how we have to be prepared to deal with that as it comes at us — which can be difficult because we don't know how it's going to work out for players' families yet. How much time they'll be away? Will they be able to visit their families? Will their families be able to see them? I think that's the most important thing outside of the obvious, which is playing the game.

“So that's a bit of an unknown and I'll be honest with them that right now, we don't have all the answers to that, but we'll certainly try to uncover them before then, and see what the process is. But that's going to be the message. I think mentally, the mental toughness part is going to determine who ends up raising that trophy at the end of the day. And that's where I like our chances."