SEATTLE -- Tuesday night marks the beginning of a new era in Seattle hockey.

And a reminder of the old troubles we've all endured the last 18 months or so.

Seattle Kraken Head Coach Dave Hakstol announced Monday that five of his players are in the NHL's COVID-19 protocol. Calle Jarnkrok was the first to enter the protocol last week, now four players have joined him.

In total, it's four forwards and one defenseman in the protocol: Jamie Oleksiak, Marcus Johansson, Jared McCann, Joonas Donskoi and Jarnkrok.

Hakstol is confident his team will be able to play in the franchise opener Tuesday night at Las Vegas

“We’ll be ready to go and ready to play as we get into Vegas and (be) ready tomorrow" said Hakstol.

We'll update this article as the Kraken figures out how to fill five holes on its roster for uncertain periods of time. The team did claim former Stanley Cup Champion with Tampa Alex Barre-Boulet, potentially because of this although Barre-Boulet is a talented player and former teammate of Kraken star Yanni Gourde. The rest of the spots will likely be filled by Kraken players at the AHL level.