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Evgeni Malkin

Pittsburgh Penguins Activate Bryan Rust Off Injured Reserve

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The Pittsburgh Penguins continue to slowly work their way back towards full health, activating right wing Bryan Rust from injured reserve today per a team release.

Rust was placed on injured reserve on October 16 after playing in just two games. He’ll undoubtedly return to the team’s top line, which currently consists of Jake Guentzel and Jeff Carter as captain Sidney Crosby remains in COVID-19 protocol.

It’s been a rocky start to the season for Pittsburgh, who have dealt with injuries to every single one of their core players this season. Evgeni Malkin has yet to play, Crosby’s played in just one game, Carter’s played only six, Kris Letang has played five, and Guentzel has missed one game out of a possible nine.

They’ve been buoyed early by a resurgent start from goaltender Tristan Jarry, who’s managed a .930 save percentage in seven games this season.

Dominik Simon, who’s averaged just 10:40 per game this season despite scoring four points in eight games, is a likely candidate to sit in the press box to make room for Rust in the lineup.

Rust returns to full health aiming to score 20 goals for the third straight season as he enters the final season of a four-year deal paying him $3.5MM per season. He’s set to earn a sharp raise on that deal, regardless of his home next season.

Injury Updates: Malkin, Toews, Forsberg, Ellis

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The injury and COVID-riddled Penguins have been without center Evgeni Malkin all season as he works his way back from offseason knee surgery.  Speaking with Mike DeFabo of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, GM Ron Hextall indicated that the 35-year-old has been skating basically daily and is on track in his recovery.  However, despite that promising news, the team is unable to provide an update on how much longer Malkin will be out of the lineup.  The original announcement was that he’d miss the first two months of the season at a minimum so an updated timeline may still be a couple of weeks away.

Other injury notes from around the NHL:

  • Devon Toews could be making his return to Colorado’s lineup soon as Niki Ardebili of the Avalanche’s team site notes that the hope is that the blueliner will be activated and make his season debut on Saturday against Columbus. Toews averaged just shy of 25 minutes a game last season for the Avs and would be a timely addition to their back end with Cale Makar now on IR.
  • The Predators have listed (Twitter link) winger Filip Forsberg as week-to-week with an upper-body injury. The veteran suffered the injury in the third period of Tuesday’s game versus Calgary.  Forsberg is in the final year of his contract and is eligible for unrestricted free agency this coming summer so an extended absence certainly wouldn’t help his value.  The 27-year-old was off to a nice start before the injury with seven points in nine games to start his season.
  • Flyers defenseman Ryan Ellis has been ruled out of their next two games, relays Jordan Hall of NBC Sports Philadelphia. Originally hoped to not miss any time, this will be the sixth and seventh games that the 30-year-old has missed as a result of his lower-body injury.

Injury Notes: Penguins, Golden Knights, Avalanche, Wood

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The Pittsburgh Penguins received some extremely welcome news today, as head coach Mike Sullivan says centers Sidney Crosby and Jeff Carter are game-time decisions for tomorrow’s contest against the New Jersey Devils as they begin the journey to full health. That’s only 40% of the key contributors they have currently out of the lineup, however, as Kris Letang remains in COVID-19 protocol and Evgeni Malkin and Bryan Rust are on injured reserve. Still, seeing one of the best players in the world close to full health again and nearly ready to make his season debut is always promising news. The return of Carter shouldn’t be overlooked either, as the veteran forward had four points in four games before entering COVID-19 protocol.

More injury notes from around the league:

  • The Golden Knights, along with the Penguins, have been one of the most injury-affected teams in the NHL this season. The Athletic’s Jesse Granger issued updates on the health of many Golden Knights today, as the team has six regulars currently sitting out with injury. The most notable of those updates is Mark Stone, who is still out indefinitely but skated today for the first time since suffering a lower-body injury on October 15. However, it could potentially become seven regulars out of the lineup for tonight’s game as William Carrier suffered an injury Wednesday night against Dallas and is a game-time decision.
  • Colorado Avalanche winger Mikko Rantanen is day-to-day with a lower-body injury per head coach Jared Bednar, but defenseman Devon Toews is expected to make his season debut during the next two games. Rantanen was scratched from Thursday night’s game against the Blues. Toews’ return will give Colorado a fully healthy defense core for the first time this season, as Samuel Girard is also ready to go.
  • Devils head coach Lindy Ruff gave an update today on forward Miles Wood, who he calls “the furthest away” from returning out of all the Devils’ injuries. Considering Jack Hughes was issued a five-week timeline today, that’s not promising news. Wood has not played this season after suffering a lower-body injury just prior to the start of the campaign.

Several More Players Placed On LTIR

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Today, several teams around the league will place additional players on long-term injured reserve. The complicated calculations that are done to maximize LTIR relief and accruable cap space are different on the last day of training camp and the first day of the season, meaning in some cases it benefited a team to wait until today.

The players that receive the designation today will be out for a minimum of ten games and 24 days, meaning they are not available for their teams through the rest of October. Several prominent names are among them:

F Nicklas Backstrom (WSH)
F Andrew Shaw (CHI)
D Wyatt Kalynuk (CHI)
F Oskar Sundqvist (STL)
F Evgeni Malkin (PIT)

These designations have opened up some additional cap room, leading to recalls by each team. The Washington Capitals brought Connor McMichael and Beck Malenstyn up, the Chicago Blackhawks brought Mackenzie Entwistle and Philipp Kurashev back up, the St. Louis Blues recalled Klim Kostin and the Pittsburgh Penguins recalled Anthony Angello and Drew O’Connor (and signed Brian Boyle).

Other candidates, including Vegas Golden Knights forward Alex Tuch, Montreal Canadiens defenseman Shea Weber, New York Islanders defenseman Johnny Boychuk, Vancouver Canucks forwards Micheal Ferland and Brandon Sutter, and Toronto Maple Leafs forward Ilya Mikheyev will likely be placed on LTIR at some point in the coming days. We will update this list as teams make those moves official.

Snapshots: Extensions, Varlamov, Francouz

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As is human nature, the 2021-22 season has not even started and discussion of the 2022 off-season has already begun. Tracking the impending free agent class, whose numbers inevitably decrease each year, is part of every season. Some will sign extensions soon, others will wait and see how the season progresses, and others are bound for the open market (and possibly the rental trade market beforehand). Pierre LeBrun writes for The Athletic that some of the biggest names among potential 2022 UFA’s are unlikely to become available. In fact, he believes the prize of the market, Florida Panthers center Aleksander Barkov, has quietly been making steady progress on a new deal and could sign soon. LeBrun also reports that the Dallas Stars and John Klingberg are having “good and constant dialogue” on an extension while, unsurprisingly, future Hall of Famer Patrice Bergeron will have the deal of his choosing from the Boston Bruins if he feels healthy this season and decides to extend his career. Less certain are the futures of Tomas Hertl and Morgan Rielly, who could be the top targets on the free agent market if they don’t re-sign with their current teams. The San Jose Sharks are still hopeful they can re-sign Hertl, but that could very well depend on their success this season and whether a continued relationship makes sense, especially if Hertl could be a trade deadline gold mine. LeBrun feels Hertl’s days in San Jose are numbered. Barring an unforeseen disaster, Rielly will remain with the Toronto Maple Leafs all year, but the team will have to do some serious work early next summer in order to clear the cap space for an extension. LeBrun does not expect a resolution, one way or another, until after the season. Pittsburgh Penguins veterans Evgeni Malkin and Kris Letang are expiring contracts whose futures are still too early to call, among many others across the league including restricted free agents as well. There will plenty to watch, as usual, over the course of the coming season.

  • The New York Islanders are already facing some concerns in net. The team was taking a risky approach to their net depth as is by entering the season with cold veterans Cory Schneider and Ken Appleby as the backups to their NHL tandem of Ilya Sorokin and Semyon Varlamov. They may now be forced to call upon one of the two right away, as Newsday’s Andrew Gross reports that Varlamov will not play in either of the Isles’ final two preseason games and is unlikely to be available for opening night, per head coach Barry Trotz. Schneider and Appleby played a combined nine games last season, all with AHL Bridgeport. Appleby has not played an NHL game since 2017-18 and Schneider has a .903 save percentage and 3.07 GAA over his last 79 NHL appearances. If the Islanders need to rely on either at the NHL level for an extended period of time this season, it could mean trouble. New York is hoping Varlamov can get back to action soon.
  • The Colorado Avalanche dealt with their own goaltending depth problems last season when backup Pavel Francouz was lost for the year. While Philipp Grubauer was a workhorse for Colorado, the absence of an established understudy led to young Hunter Miska receiving NHL experience and eventually the acquisition of Jonas Johansson, who performed well late in the year. Fortunately for the Avs both are back this season, as Francouz is already back in the injury spotlight. Francouz suffered a lower-body injury in Tuesday night’s preseason game, reports Colorado Hockey Now’s Scott MacDonald. While head coach Jared Bednar denied that the issue was related to Francouz’s 2020-21 issues, it is hard to feel confident about the veteran goaltender playing on two surgically-repaired hips when he is already experiencing another injury. There is expected to be an update on Francouz’s condition later this week. Johansson would be the next man up if Francouz is unable to start the season, though new starter Darcy Kuemper is capable of being a workhorse himself if need be.

Metropolitan Notes: Zibanejad, Lee, Malkin

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The New York Rangers began extension talks with top center Mika Zibanejad earlier this month, but the two sides have not yet reached a resolution on a new contact. However, don’t expect that to bother Zibanejad this season. The New York Post’s Mollie Walker reports that Zibanejad is unfazed by his impending free agent status. He has been candid with comments stating that he will leave negotiations to his agent and the Rangers’ front office while he remains focused on the upcoming season. “Right now, they’re taking care of business — so I’m taking care of mine,” Zibanejad stated. While many players state us much while actually posturing, Zibanejad really does have nothing to worry about. Sure, the skilled center has stated that he enjoys playing in New York and would like to sign long-term with the Rangers. However, the 28-year-old could also be the top name on the open market if he cannot come to terms with the team on a new deal. Walker reports that Zibanejad’s side is seeking upwards of $10MM per year on a seven- or eight-year term, while the Rangers would prefer to keep that cap number between $7-9MM. While Zibanejad would lose the possibility of that eighth year should he test the market, competition would also certainly drive that AAV up toward his asking price. As a result, Zibanejad has all the leverage in talks with New York, especially if he performs this season, so it makes sense that he can calmly focus solely on his play and let negotiations unfold behind the scenes.

  • Across town, the New York Islanders are looking forward to the return of one of their own core players in Anders Lee. Lee missed the final 29 games of the regular season and the entirety of the postseason after undergoing ACL surgery in March, but is now back to full strength. Yet, his comeback is still on hold for the time being. Though Lee has not been limited in training camp, NYI Hockey Now’s Christian Arnold relays word from head coach Barry Trotz that Lee will not be rushed into preseason action. The star forward is expected to be held out of at least the first few Islanders preseason games, if not more. While the team wants Lee to be up to game speed by the start of the regular season, they are being cautious with his workload on a surgically repaired knee. A hard-working veteran, Lee will be ready to go for New York’s season debut regardless of how much work he puts in prior.
  • As for Evgeni Malkin, Dan Kingerski of Pittsburgh Hockey Now reports that it is status quo for the star center’s return from off-season knee surgery. While Sidney Crosby is only expected to miss a few games to start the year following his own wrist surgery, the expectation remains that Malkin will miss the first two months of the season. The Penguins surely had hoped that Malkin could fast-forward his return to action, especially since the team’s limited cap space handicapped their ability to find a suitable replacement down the middle. The focus so far in training camp has been on veteran Evan Rodrigues and youngster Radim Zohorna battling for a starting center role, though neither will be able to bring even replacement-level offense to the lineup. Jeff Carter, Teddy Blueger, and eventually Crosby will likely be the Penguins top-nine centers until Malkin returns and the lines are re-shuffled.

Evgeni Malkin To Miss First Two Months Of The Season

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The Pittsburgh Penguins are likely going to be without Sidney Crosby to start the year after undergoing wrist surgery earlier this month that will keep him out a minimum of six weeks. There wasn’t any clarity on Evgeni Malkin’s timeline until today, when Penguins GM Ron Hextall confirmed he will likely miss the first two months of the season as he continues to recover from offseason knee surgery.

That means the Penguins are without their top two centers for the first bit, but Malkin’s considerably longer absence is a bigger concern. The 35-year-old center is coming off arguably the worst season of his career, which saw him record just eight goals–his lowest total–and 28 points in 33 games. Malkin’s ice time dropped to fewer than 18 minutes a night for the first time and he once again missed a huge chunk of the season.

While obviously, the hope is that he comes back at full strength after the first two months and gets back to the player who scored 74 points in 55 games during the 2019-20 season, that may be wishful thinking for the Penguins faithful. The veteran center has dealt with countless injuries over a long career, failing to play in every game of a season since 2008-09 when he won the Art Ross Trophy with 113 points.

Even once Crosby returns, the absence of Malkin leaves question marks at the center position for the Penguins. The team does have Jeff Carter after a deadline deal last season, but he will turn 37 on January 1 and has seen a decline in offensive production in recent years. Teddy Blueger has shown he is likely better suited in the bottom-six, while other options like Evan Rodrigues and Sam Lafferty are not even proven NHL options. The team does have young prospect Filip Hallander, who has shown strong potential down the middle, and veteran Brian Boyle in camp on a PTO, but there will certainly be a void felt while Malkin is on the sideline.

With the ever-competitive Metropolitan Division coming back into play this year, losing Malkin for two months could be devastating. There are at least three teams in the division that are already projected to be equal or better than the Penguins this season, while each of those that missed the playoffs last year are expected to take steps forward. Every game will be important, and now the first 20 or so will be without one of the team’s key players.

East Notes: Chara, Malkin, DeBrusk

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While the Blues are believed to have shown interest in Zdeno Chara, it doesn’t appear to be mutual.  Fox Sports Midwest’s Andy Strickland notes (Twitter link) that if the 44-year-old decides to play next season, his intention is to stay in the Eastern Conference to be closer to his family.  Chara still logged more than 18 minutes a game with Washington last season and led the team in shorthanded ice time so he can still contribute in a limited role.  But at this stage of his career and knowing he’s going to be signing for the minimum salary or close to it (plus possible bonuses) for cap purposes, Chara can afford to be selective about where he wants to go and if the right fit doesn’t materialize, he can simply call it a career.

More from the East:

  • While teams have often wanted to front-load contracts to players signing their final contracts at the end of their career to try to keep the AAV down, Dan Kingerski of Pittsburgh Hockey Now suggests the Penguins may want to try a different approach when it comes to center Evgeni Malkin. Instead, with the 35-plus penalties not applying to contracts for players that age that have the same salary throughout, a deal like that could potentially allow Pittsburgh to tack an extra year on in return for a lower AAV while giving Malkin the opportunity to retire or go to the KHL without any risk of cap penalties that most 35-plus deals carry.
  • A pair of Western Canadian teams still have varying degrees of interest in Bruins winger Jake DeBrusk, reports Fluto Shinzawa of The Athletic (subscription link). The scribe notes the Oilers and Flames as teams interested, though Calgary is to a lesser degree.  DeBrusk is coming off a tough season that saw him post just 14 points in 41 games, hardly worth the $3.675MM AAV (that also carries a $4.85MM salary).  However, he scored at least 16 goals in each of his first three NHL seasons so there is a track record of some success.  Shinzawa suggests that a swap for a center would be Boston’s preference but neither of those teams have a center that could plausibly be had around that particular price tag.

Penguins Notes: Goaltending, Jarry, DeSmith, Malkin

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The Penguins’ new brain trust threw their support behind goaltender Tristan Jarry after his struggles led to another early exit for the team this postseason. At least publicly, the team claimed that they still believed in the 25-year-old as their starter. In fact, they went so far as to say that adding size and physicality was their only objective this off-season. Behind closed doors, the conversation seems to have gone differently. Dan Kingerski of Pittsburgh Hockey Now reports that multiple sources close to the team confirm that the Penguins aim to add a veteran goaltender on the trade or free agent market this summer. While Kingerski calls the focus an “experienced backup”, in all likelihood that means they are looking for someone with starting experience to play 1B to Jarry’s 1A and take over if he again has issues. Frederik Andersen is a name that has already been linked to the Penguins, while other UFA options include Jonathan Bernier, James Reimer, Antti Raanta, Jaroslav Halak or Devan Dubnyk. Younger names like Linus Ullmark or Chris Driedger could really push Jarry if brought in. Trade options are numerous and the Expansion Draft will likely shake up the market, but Anton Khudobin stands out as an ideal fit for what the Penguins are looking for.

  • Again, this means that Casey DeSmith is the odd man out – and not just on the depth chart. Kingerski put to rest any speculation to the contrary by stating definitively that Jarry will be protected by the Penguins in the impending Expansion Draft. That will leave DeSmith, 29, up for grabs for the Seattle Kraken, though the team will likely have better options elsewhere on the Pittsburgh roster. Nevertheless, DeSmith’s time with the Penguins could be running out. After outplaying Jarry in everything but games played this season, DeSmith has proven himself to be a solid backup in his own right. Injury prone and unaccustomed to a starter’s workload at the NHL level, teams may not be clamoring to acquire DeSmith, but he also is unlikely to clear waivers if the Penguins add another goalie.
  • Another player that Kingerski confirms for the Penguins’ protection list in next month’s Expansion Draft: Evgeni Malkin. No, its not exactly a revelation. Not only is Malkin one of the faces of the franchise, but his contract also carries a No-Movement Clause, requiring him to be protected. Malkin could waive his NMC, but the team will not ask him to do that. That may seem like common sense, but after a down year by his standards, advancing age, an expensive contract, a serious injury that could carry over into the season, and very poor Expansion Draft outlook for their deep roster, the Penguins have plenty of reason to at least consider exposing Malkin. However, Kingerski adds that it probably would be a useless request anyway. As as has been the book on Malkin throughout his whole career, he would only leave Pittsburgh if he was traded to a Florida team, where he makes his home in the off-season. Seattle is on the other side of the continent.

Evgeni Malkin Undergoes Knee Surgery, Expected To Miss Time

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As Evgeni Malkin prepares for the final year of his current contract in 2021-22 and tries to broker a possible extension this off-season, he now faces a potential hurdle to finding success at both. The Pittsburgh Penguins have announced that Malkin has undergone surgery on his right knee and a lengthy rehab is expected. The team does not anticipate that Malkin will be available for training camp in September and will not re-evaluate Malkin’s recovery until that time, which could lead to a further absence.

Malkin suffered the knee injury all the way back in mid-March and missed the final six weeks of the regular season and the first two games of the Penguins’ first round series against the New York Islanders. To his credit, Malkin did return for the final four games of that series, playing on what was clearly a severely damaged knee. For a player that has a reputation of being more on the fragile side, it is refreshing for Penguins fans to see that their star was able to fight through the pain in an effort to keep the team’s season alive. While he nevertheless failed in that pursuit, it could be to the benefit of next season and beyond. If Pittsburgh had advanced and Malkin continued to play, the surgery would have been delayed and the injury could have worsened in the meantime, likely leading to a much longer absence next season.

Malkin’s future is still somewhat of a question mark though. Despite a recent vote of confidence from new GM Ron Hextall, Malkin will be 35 years old next season and coming off of a poor year by his standards and has played more than 70 games once in the past nine seasons. Now he has undergone major surgery and faces a long recovery period and then will attempt to get up to game speed without any training camp and possibly preseason. The Penguins could be hesitant to give him a pricey, multi-year extension this summer until they see how he responds to this medical setback. Even then, this injury could mean that Malkin’s next deal is not as long as he may have hoped. The long-time star needs to come back strong next season, both in production and durability, in order to prove he can still be a difference-maker for Pittsburgh.

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