Penguins defenseman Erik Karlsson won’t skate at all this weekend due to the upper-body injury that has kept him out of training camp so far, reports Matt Vensel of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. That’s actually a step in the wrong direction as the veteran had been skating on his own earlier in the week. Head coach Mike Sullivan stated that the team will assess the plan for him early next week. At this point, it’s starting to look like the 34-year-old might not be available for the season opener which would be tough for them. While Karlsson wasn’t able to duplicate his 2022-23 season numbers with Pittsburgh last year, he still collected 56 points in 82 games while logging over 24 minutes a night, production which will be hard to replace, even on a short-term basis.
Other injury news from around the NHL:
- Wild winger Matt Boldy skated Saturday for the first time since being injured last weekend, notes Michael Russo of The Athletic. Head coach John Hynes indicated that he anticipates that the 23-year-old should be able to get several full practices in before the regular season gets underway. Boldy is coming off a career-best 69 points in 75 games last season and will be counted to play a similar role as Minnesota looks to get back to the playoffs in 2024-25.
- The Maple Leafs hope to have blueliner Jani Hakanpaa skate with the main group next week, relays Terry Koshan of the Toronto Sun. Toronto agreed to terms with the 32-year-old on the opening day of free agency but concerns over the state of his knee resulted in the agreement being cut to one year and getting registered more than two months later. Thus far, Hakanpaa had been skating with the minor league group, bringing into question his availability for the start of the season. If he’s able to get in some practices with the main squad and perhaps a preseason game, he could be cleared for opening night.