Ilya Lyubushkin refuses to wear a Pride jersey on Monday night.

The Pride Night controversy in the National Hockey League isn't going away anytime soon, and now yet another player has added his name to the ever growing list of players around the league who are opting out of wearing a Pride jersey.

On Monday, the Buffalo News revealed that Buffalo Sabres defenseman Ilya Lyubushkin would not be participating in warmups this evening when the Sabres welcome the Montreal Canadiens to KeyBank Center. Warmups are of course when the players for the Sabres will be wearing their Pride-themed jerseys, and Lyubushkin's decision not to participate has obviously been motivated by this fact.

According to the Buffalo News however Lyubushkin has a very legitimate reason for opting out, citing general safety concerns tied to President Vladimir Putin’s expanded law restricting activities seen as promoting LGBTQ rights. While some may be quick to label this an excuse, I am of the opinion that no one has the right to tell anyone else how they should feel or behave when the safety of their loved ones is at risk.

Lyubushkin is only the latest in a growing group of players that have opted out of Pride themed events for a variety of reasons, a trend that began when Philadelphia Flyers defenseman Ivan Provorov cited religious reasons for his decision not to participate. Since Provorov's decision to not participate, we have seen San Jose Sharks goaltender James Reimer, brothers Eric and Marc Staal of the Florida Panthers and even entire teams, like in the case of the New York Rangers, opt out of the events.