The Penguins could hardly ask for a better time to step away from the rink for a few days.
With the injury list piling up, the extra rest comes at a welcome moment for a team that has seen bodies dropping all over the roster lately. Pittsburgh has four days off before it gets back to action on Thursday, and given everything going on, the break should do more good than harm. When the Penguins return, there’s at least a chance some help will be waiting in the form of fresh bodies.
The schedule itself offers a little breathing room, with only a pair of games later in the week after this stretch of downtime. After a tough opening run to the season, that pause may be exactly what the group needs while some of the injured players work their way back.
One player the Penguins would love to see pick things up is Rickard Rakell. He has just two goals through the first 12 games, but Saturday against Nashville stood out as his best outing so far this season. It was the kind of performance Pittsburgh needs more of from a winger expected to drive offense on the top line.
The injuries have also created a different kind of opening for players called up from below, and defenseman Chase Pietila is trying to make the most of it. He has not made his NHL debut yet, but the chance to be around the big club gives him an opportunity to show what he can do.
In Other News...
Penguins Get Reassuring Ben Kindel Update As Another Return Looms
Ben Kindel was back on the ice with the Penguins on Friday, a welcome sight two weeks after he was forced out of the lineup following a medical scare on the team plane. Pittsburgh also had defenseman Sam Girard and forward Egor Chinakhov back at practice, giving the group a healthier look as it worked through split drills with players in different contact-level jerseys.
For the Penguins, the biggest takeaway was simply seeing Kindel moving through a normal practice setting again after the setback. The team still had one notable absence in winger Elmer Soderblom, who was out with an upper-body injury and listed as day to day, leaving Pittsburgh with at least one more item to monitor as it continues sorting out its lineup. [Read more 🡒]
Penguins Early Slide Has Put Dubas In A Tough Spot
The early-season drift has already put Kyle Dubas in a tricky position, because the Penguins are once again facing the same uncomfortable question that follows any slow start: stick with the veteran core and hope it steadies the room, or start looking at the market before the rest of the league decides the teams path for them. Jim Biringer of NHL Rumors.com said on TSN Radio that if the slide keeps going, Pittsburgh could move from patience to a more obvious sell-off, even if the names at the very top of the roster remain off the table.
Sidney Crosby, Evgeni Malkin and Kris Letang are still expected to stay put, but the conversation gets more complicated from there. Biringer pointed to a possible retool and a push to get younger after last seasons overachievement, and that naturally puts attention on players who could bring back future pieces if the Penguins decide to listen. Erik Karlsson has been mentioned in that mix, along with Bryan Rust and Rickard Rakell, which is the sort of buzz that tends to hang around a team only when the standings start to tighten and the front office has to think beyond the next week. [Read more 🡒]
Penguins Latest Malkin Line Test Says A Lot About Their Young Forwards
Early in the 2026-27 season, Dan Muse is already leaning on the kind of lineup tinkering that usually tells you more about the roster than the playbook. Injuries and uneven performances have forced the Penguins coach to keep searching for the right fit, and one recent look put Ben Kindel between Egor Chinakhov and Evgeni Malkin, a combination with some history and not much reason for comfort after last seasons limited results.
That kind of trial also says plenty about where the young forwards stand in the pecking order. Hendrix Lapierre has looked more natural at center and has clicked well with Ville Koivunen, while Andrei Kuzmenko has not produced the same kind of effectiveness so far, leaving Muse with a clear set of choices and an unresolved question about which young pieces can actually drive a line when the games start to matter more. [Read more 🡒]