Penguins Veteran Defenseman Suffers A Significant Injury
The Pittsburgh Penguins made a significant investment into upgrading their defensive core this offseason. Just days into training camp one of those additions has gone down with a significant injury.
Penguins Veteran Suffers A Significant Injury
The Pittsburgh Penguins announced that veteran defenseman Mark Pysyk is going to be out long-term with a significant injury.
A tough break for a guy on a PTO trying to comeback from missing all of 2022-23 due to an Achilles tendon injury.
While the injury is currently unknown this is incredibly tough news for both the Penguins and Mark Pysyk. Pysyk at 31 years of age is starting to run out of prime playing years. Hopefully, his injury is not as significant as currently feared and he can make his way back this season.
Penguins New Look Defense
Even with the injury to Pysyk the Penguins are still in a solid spot on the back end. Erik Karlsson, Kris Letang, Ryan Graves, and Pierre-Olivier Joseph give the Penguins one of the best top-four groups in the league. The depth is where things start to get sketchy with Pysyk out.
The rest of their best defensive options consist of Marcus Pettersson, Ty Smith, Chad Ruhwedel, and Will Butcher. All of these players have NHL experience but have struggled with consistency.
Pettersson has the best shot at consistent playing time heading into the season which means the final spot will be decided in a preseason battle between Ruhwedel, Butcher, and Smith.
| POLL | ||
SEPTEMBRE 26 | 54 ANSWERS Penguins Veteran Defenseman Suffers A Significant Injury Who is the best option to be the 6th defenseman for the Pittsburgh Penguins? | ||
| Ty Smith | 17 | 31.5 % |
| Will Butcher | 19 | 35.2 % |
| Chad Ruhwedel | 18 | 33.3 % |
| LIST OF POLLS | ||
| G | A | PTS | ||
| Zachary Werenski | 2 | 3 | 5 | |
| Sean Monahan | 1 | 3 | 4 | |
| Jesper Bratt | 2 | 1 | 3 | |
| Frederick Gaudreau | 2 | 1 | 3 | |
| Jack Hughes | - | 3 | 3 | |
| Nikita Kucherov | - | 3 | 3 | |
| Mackenzie Weegar | - | 3 | 3 | |
| Kent Johnson | 2 | - | 2 | |
| Alexander Wennberg | 2 | - | 2 | |
| Mitchell Chaffee | 1 | 1 | 2 | |
| Anthony Cirelli | 1 | 1 | 2 | |
| Matthew Coronato | 1 | 1 | 2 | |
| Marcus Foligno | 1 | 1 | 2 | |
| Nick Foligno | 1 | 1 | 2 | |
| Conor Geekie | 1 | 1 | 2 | |
| Brandon Hagel | 1 | 1 | 2 | |
| Stefan Noesen | 1 | 1 | 2 | |
| Corey Perry | 1 | 1 | 2 | |
| Igor Sharangovich | 1 | 1 | 2 | |
| Dmitry Voronkov | 1 | 1 | 2 | |
| Complete stats | ||||
| STANDINGS 2024-2025 | ||||||
TOP 10 | GP | W | L | OL | PTS | |
Jets | 19 | 16 | 3 | - | 32 | |
Wild | 19 | 13 | 3 | 3 | 29 | |
Hurricanes | 19 | 14 | 5 | - | 28 | |
Devils | 22 | 13 | 7 | 2 | 28 | |
Capitals | 19 | 13 | 5 | 1 | 27 | |
Golden Knights | 20 | 12 | 6 | 2 | 26 | |
Maple Leafs | 20 | 12 | 6 | 2 | 26 | |
Rangers | 18 | 12 | 5 | 1 | 25 | |
Panthers | 20 | 12 | 7 | 1 | 25 | |
Flames | 20 | 11 | 6 | 3 | 25 | |
| Conference | Cumulative | ||||||