Penguins Place Four On Injured Reserve

The Pittsburgh Penguins will open the season with a limited lineup. Four Penguins have been placed on injured reserve – forwards Blake Lizotte (upper-body), Justin Brazeau (lower-body), Benjamin Kindel (lower-body) and defenseman Ryan Graves (knee). Lizotte carries a day-to-day designation and returned to full-contact practice on Sunday. Kindel and Brazeau carry week-to-week timelines and Graves is out indefinitely.

Lizotte is making progress from an injury announced last Monday. He was originally listed out week-to-week – but seems to be on the mend after one week. A move to IR may not limit his availability for Pittsburgh’s season opener on September 30th.

Lizotte’s spot in the lineup will be carved out whenever he’s ready. He has stood out as a depth center and grinder over the last two seasons in Pittsburgh, despite missing a combined 50 games with injury. He has posted 39 points, 50.5 faceoff percentage, 64 shot blocks, and 109 hits in 114 games with the Penguins.

Kindel was injured during Pittsburgh’s Monday preseason matchup against the Buffalo Sabres. He could also be eligible for a short stint on IR, though his status was downgraded from day-to-day to week-to-week on Thursday. The second-year pro will have an important season ahead of him, looking to build on an impressive 35 points in his rookie season.

Kindel’s absence will mark another notable blow to the Penguins center depth. Pittsburgh could elevate new-addition Hendrix Lapierre to the third-line center role if both Kindel and Lizotte – the two centers who would otherwise push Lapierre out of the lineup – are unavailable. Lapierre scored 16 points in 74 games with the rival Washington Capitals last season.

Brazeau will begin the season on IR after missing 18 games with injuries last season. He hasn’t practiced since Friday while being evaluated for a lower-body injury that could now hold him out for an extended period. The 28 year old made his mark on the Penguins lineup when healthy. He scored 34 points, split evenly, in 64 games with Pittsburgh last year. That scoring pace would have earned him 21 goals and 43 points across a full 82 games. Brazeau has had his stints of hot-and-cold shooting over his three-year NHL career – but offers Pittsburgh valuable depth scoring when he’s in the lineup.

Ville Koivunen will be the direct beneficiary of any minutes Brazeau leaves open. Less competition will be a helpful boost to what will be a prove-it year for Koivunen. He scored just seven points in 39 games of his rookie season last year. Despite that quiet start – and thanks to strong scoring in the AHL and Finland’s Liiga – the Penguins opted to sign Koivunen to an eight-year contract over the summer. That deal will bank on Koivunen finding a breakout sooner rather than later – and injuries to multiple forwards could give him extra runway to start the year.

The injuries will stretch to the blue line with Graves. The 31 year old has been dealing with an unspecified knee injury for “some time”, head coach Dan Muse told Seth Rorabaugh of Tribune-Review Sports. Graves is seeking further options for rehabbing his injury and will be out indefinitely. His absence could leave a hole in Pittsburgh’s blue line on the left-side. The Penguins lack depth at left-defense and may have to choose between icing Samuel Girard or right-defender Trevor van Riemsdyk on the top pair for the season opener.

Pittsburgh will be among the teams with the most to figure out before the 2026-27 season kicks off. They are facing a long list of absences, including minor injuries to Bryan Rust and Tristan Broz as wel as the a personal leave of absence for Andrei Kuzmenko. The opening night lineup could look far from ideal and may present extra opportunity for depth players Declan Carlile, Ilya Solovyov, and Rutger McGroarty. While numerous absences will force Muse into shaking up his lineup, the Penguins should add multiple injured forwards back to the fold early in the year.