The Pittsburgh Penguins announced today that defenseman Ryan Graves has been activated off of injured reserve. Graves landed on IR on Jan. 22 as the result of an upper-body injury, and ended up missing four games.
Graves’ return to health comes at a time when the Penguins’ defense, especially its left side, could use some reinforcement. The team recently announced that veteran stalwart Kris Letang will be sidelined on a week-to-week timeline as the result of an injury, so Graves’ activation gives head coach Dan Muse another option to work with as he plans how his defense will absorb the loss of Letang.
Letang’s injury provides Graves with quite a bit of runway to maintain a hold on an NHL roster spot. For a player with nearly 500 games of NHL experience, and one that costs $4.5MM against the cap per year, it’s something of a surprise that a spot in the NHL is even in question for Graves, but that’s been his reality in 2025-26. His decline in form since his days with the Colorado Avalanche and New Jersey Devils has led to multiple reassignments to the AHL, where he has played a total of 13 games this season, compared to 19 in the NHL.
Given Graves’ physical traits (he stands 6’5″, 225 pounds) and his wealth of NHL experience, it’s entirely reasonable to expect him to be capable of playing better. Other Penguins defensemen have had tough stretches before finding their form, such as veteran Connor Clifton. Due in part to Letang’s unavailability, Graves will likely get the chance to play in the NHL for Pittsburgh once more, and if he can string together some quality, stable performances, he could go a long way to justifying his lofty cap hit.
Graves’ most direct competition for NHL minutes appears to be 25-year-old Ilya Solovyov, a defender from Belarus who the team claimed off of waivers on Jan. 20. Solovyov has averaged just 15:09 time on ice per game in his two contests in Pittsburgh, which is only a shade lower than what Graves has averaged this year (15:28 per game). It’s inevitable that Graves will get the chance to play in some NHL games in the role currently occupied for Solovyov, so it’ll be important for him to make the most of that opportunity if he wants to avoid another reassignment to the AHL.