Blake Lizotte’s opening week with the Penguins has already turned into another injury fight.
Pittsburgh said Thursday that Lizotte is being evaluated for a lower-body injury and did not take part in practice. That comes one day after he was back in the lineup, following his activation from injured reserve Wednesday.
Lizotte had opened the season out with an upper-body injury he suffered in the preseason, then returned in time for the Penguins’ season opener, a 7-0 win over the Flyers. His comeback lasted one game before this new issue popped up.
The team has not set a timetable. Lizotte, 28, is a hard-working bottom-six center in his third season with the Penguins after his first six years with the Kings, and the latest setback adds to a pattern of injuries that has followed him.
There was more encouraging movement in New Jersey. Defenseman Johnathon Kovacevic skated with his Devils teammates at the morning skate for the first time this season.
The 6-foot-5 right-shot defender has been rehabbing offseason knee surgery, part of a stretch of knee trouble that limited him to 34 games last season. He is still on injured reserve.
Kovacevic is in the early years of a five-year, $20MM extension signed in 2025, with four years still left on the deal. He is expected to be an important part of New Jersey’s blue line once the club creates the cap room needed to activate him.
In Calgary, the Wranglers added veteran defenseman Derek Forbort on a professional tryout. The Flames’ AHL affiliate is giving the 34-year-old a look after two seasons in Vancouver, where hip issues held him to just two games last year.
Forbort is a 552-game NHL veteran and the 15th overall pick in the 2010 draft. He also spent part of 2019-20 with the organization, and now he’ll try to turn this PTO into an NHL contract while competing for a spot on Calgary’s AHL back end.
In Other News...
Penguins Suddenly Have A Saturday Lineup Question Fans Didn't Expect
The Penguins daily lineup picture changed Thursday afternoon when Rutger McGroarty was sent to Wilkes-Barre, another reminder of how quickly a teams options can shift during the season. Pittsburgh has already been juggling different layers of roster business around the league, from trade chatter involving defensemen to the bigger debate over how players can shape movement with no-trade clauses.
Friday brought a fresh wrinkle when practice opened with one forward absent and another back on the ice, adding a little more uncertainty to how Saturday could look. The returning player also appeared to be moving well, which gives the coaching staff something positive to weigh, but the missing name left just enough of a question mark to make this one worth watching as the weekend approaches. [Read more 🡒]
Penguins New Blue Line Faces Its First Real Pressure Test
The Penguins opened their 2026-27 season with a 7-0 rout, and the new-look blue line came away looking like part of the solution. Six different players scored, including newcomers Nicholas Robertson and Hendrix Lapierre, while Arturs Silovs handled the rest with a shutout in his first start of the year. For a team that knows its defense is still the group under the most scrutiny, the opener offered a tidy first snapshot of how Erik Karlsson, Sam Girard and the rest can help set the tone.
Still, one game against a Philadelphia club that never really pushed back is only a first pass at the real evaluation. The Penguins can feel good about the way the defense moved the puck and limited chances, but the next step is finding out whether that early success holds when the pace rises and the pressure shifts into a more demanding test. [Read more 🡒]
Penguins Get An Important Kuzmenko Step At A Crucial Time
The Penguins got a meaningful boost at practice when Andrei Kuzmenko was back on the ice after a leave of absence for personal matters. His return comes at a significant time for a team that can use every healthy body and every bit of continuity it can get as it tries to stay organized and competitive through the grind of the season.
Kuzmenkos absence was tied to the death of his father, Alexander, which made the pause away from the team much bigger than hockey. His reappearance at practice does not answer every question, but it does give Pittsburgh a more stable picture in the short term and a chance to keep moving forward while respecting what he has been through. [Read more 🡒]