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Kasperi Kapanen Out Week-To-Week

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The nightmare season for Kasperi Kapanen continues. The Pittsburgh Penguins have announced that Kapanen will be out on a week-to-week basis with a lower-body injury.

It’s brutal timing for the 26-year-old, as Kapanen had just started to find a consistent level of play. Through healthy scratches, benchings, and demotions, he has 17 points in 35 games so far. While only one of those points had come in his last seven appearances, there were some encouraging signs that he could fit into a bottom-six role for the rest of the season.

Now, with a weeks-long injury, he’s back to square one. The Penguins gave Kapanen a two-year, $6.4MM contract in the offseason when many wondered whether he would even get a qualifying offer. The deal now looks like one of the worst on the team, with Pittsburgh desperate for cap space to make a deadline addition.

An injury of this length could be a worst-case scenario. It might not be long enough to justify long-term injured reserve (and even if it is, they’ll have to keep room open for his activation), but keeps him off the active roster as the deadline approaches.

For other injury updates, the head coach Mike Sullivan called Jeff Petry and Ryan Poehling game-time decisions, while Kris Letang, Josh Archibald, and Jan Rutta are not yet ready to return.

Letang Moved From Non-Roster To IR

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  • The Pittsburgh Penguins have taken Kris Letang off the non-roster list after he returned to the team, but have moved him to injured reserve. The move is retroactive to December 28, meaning he can come off IR whenever ready to return from his lower-body injury. Letang won’t play on Wednesday but is listed as day-to-day.

Kris Letang Expected Back This Week

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  • The Pittsburgh Penguins are expecting Kris Letang to return to the team in the next few days. The veteran defenseman was away dealing with the death of his father, and hasn’t played since December 28. The Penguins have 40 games left in the season, and Letang needs to play in 30 of them to reach 1,000 for his career.

Pittsburgh Penguins Recall Jonathan Gruden

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The Pittsburgh Penguins have recalled forward Jonathan Gruden from the team’s AHL affiliate, the Wilkes-Barre Scranton Penguins. Since the Penguins had an open spot on their roster, no corresponding move was needed to make this recall possible.

This move puts Gruden in a position to potentially make his NHL debut. The 22-year-old forward has been with Wilkes-Barre Scranton this season and has scored decently well there, notching 11 goals and 16 points in 32 games.

The 22-year-old forward arrived in Pittsburgh in the summer of 2020, sent with a second-round pick by the Ottawa Senators in exchange for current Toronto Maple Leafs netminder Matt Murray.

Gruden, a fourth-round pick at the 2018 draft, made his professional debut in the fall of 2020 with the Penguins’ AHL affiliate. Before that point he had taken a somewhat unconventional development journey, first playing for the U.S. National Team Development Program, then heading to the NCAA, before finally playing one season as a star scorer for the London Knights.

Now that Gruden finally has had some stability in the location of his development, he’s grown nicely into a call-up option for the Penguins. While it’s no guarantee that head coach Mike Sullivan dresses him for a game, this recall indicates how far Gruden has come since being selected in the middle rounds of the 2018 draft.

Marcus Pettersson Not On Road Trip

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  • Not only is Marcus Pettersson out of the lineup tonight for the Pittsburgh Penguins – he’s not even on the trip. Pettersson did not travel and is still dealing with the illness that has kept him off the ice. The 26-year-old has turned into one of the team’s most reliable players this year, logging nearly 21 minutes a night and providing outstanding defense in a bigger role.

Tristan Jarry, Ryan Poehling Placed On Injured Reserve; Mark Friedman Recalled

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Jan 13: In a curious move, Friedman has been recalled again with no corresponding transaction. The team had explained that they wanted to get him in some minor league action to stay fresh, but he did not arrive in time to suit up for the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins this week, so is back without appearing for the AHL club.

Jan 11: The Pittsburgh Penguins have made a couple of curious moves today, clearing several roster spots at the same time. Mark Friedman has been assigned to the minor leagues, while Ryan Poehling and Tristan Jarry have been placed on injured reserve. Each of their stints are retroactive to their most recent appearance – December 30 for Poehling and January 2 for Jarry.

The move drops Pittsburgh to 20 players on the roster, with three empty spots. That could signal the potential return of Kris Letang, Jeff Petry, or Josh Archibald, the latter two who skated yesterday during the optional.

Friedman has only played three times for the Penguins this year, last suiting up more than a week ago against the Boston Bruins. The veteran minor league defenseman is nothing but depth at this point and will likely bounce back and forth between the AHL and NHL the rest of the year.

Because they have been placed retroactively, both Poehling and Jarry can be activated whenever healthy. Both have been listed as day-to-day by head coach Mike Sullivan, though there is no clear date for either’s return.

The Penguins, fresh off a win over the Vancouver Canucks last night, are facing the dreaded back-to-back-with-travel that teams struggle with this weekend. They host the Winnipeg Jets on Friday, before traveling to face the Carolina Hurricanes Saturday night. Some injury reinforcements by then would be very welcome, as they try to climb back into the Metropolitan Division race.

Pittsburgh Penguins Recall Taylor Fedun

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The Pittsburgh Penguins cleared three rosters spots yesterday, and now they’ve filled at least one of those with a recall from the minor leagues. Taylor Fedun is on his way to the NHL, recalled for the first time in more than a year.

Fedun, 34, hasn’t played an NHL game since the 2019-20 season when he was still with the Dallas Stars. The minor league veteran has been playing with Wilkes-Barre/Scranton for the past two seasons, rarely recalled even as injury insurance. This year, through 30 games, he has just two points, but is still a steady enough presence in the defensive end that he could potentially take some minutes with the big club.

There’s not much to get excited about with this recall though, as Fedun’s days as an NHL regular are long past. The team liked him enough to hand over a two-year contract last spring, but adding a 34-year-old minor league journeyman is probably not going to solve the Penguins’ issues. The club has lost seven of ten and sit fifth in the Metropolitan Division, still waiting on a hot streak to get them into contention for the division crown.

On Tuesday, young defenseman Pierre-Olivier Joseph saw just ten minutes of ice time, nearly 15% of which was on the powerplay. He managed to take two minor penalties in that short period. Perhaps the team is looking for a little more veteran savvy in that spot, but it remains to be seen whether Fedun will actually play.

Pittsburgh Penguins Issue Injury Updates

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Pittsburgh Penguins head coach Mike Sullivan issued several injury updates earlier today. Firstly, Penguins forward Ryan Poehling did not practice due to injury, and his status is considered out day-to-day. Accordingly, Sullivan stated that Poehling is unlikely to play in the Penguins’ game tomorrow against the Arizona Coyotes. Next, Sullivan revealed that injured defenseman Jeff Petry skated after the official portion of practice. Petry has been out since December 10th and is on long-term injured reserve.

Filip Hallander Released From The Hospital After Being Injured In AHL Game

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Penguins prospect Filip Hallander was stretchered off the ice late in yesterday’s AHL game between Wilkes-Barre/Scranton and Charlotte, relays Matt Vensel of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette.  The injury occurred off a faceoff with his legs getting tied up with a Charlotte player, causing him to fall to the ice, landing on the side of his head.  Play was quickly whistled down as the 22-year-old was motionless on the ice and the game was called at that point.  The team released a brief statement this morning (Twitter link) indicating that he has been released from the hospital and is resting at home.  They will not be providing any further information about the injury at this time.

Pittsburgh Penguins Recall Dustin Tokarski

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After Tristan Jarry left yesterday’s Winter Classic with an injury, the Pittsburgh Penguins have recalled Dustin Tokarski from the minor leagues. The team has not moved Jarry to injured reserve to make room for the transaction; instead, Kris Letang has been designated non-roster while he is with family following the death of his father.

Tokarski, 33, has spent the entire season at the AHL level but has been excellent for the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins. With a .926 save percentage in 18 appearances, it’s one of his best performances to date in what has been a long successful career. The veteran netminder should be able to contribute if called upon, though Casey DeSmith will likely carry most of the load if Jarry is out for a little while.

DeSmith has a .911 save percentage in 13 appearances, though incredibly, nine of those have been losses. The 31-year-old has a career .915 and has been one of the most consistent backups in the league since debuting in 2017-18.

Still, losing Jarry is obviously a big blow. The 27-year-old netminder has been strong this year, winning 15 of his 25 appearances and posting a .918 save percentage. Not only does he have the Penguins to perform for, but he’ll also be an unrestricted free agent at the end of the year, meaning he’s playing for a contract. Time on the shelf will obviously hurt those negotiations, though it is a good sign that he wasn’t placed on injured reserve.

There is no timeline for Letang’s return at this point.

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