Penguins Place Sidney Crosby On IR, Activate Kris Letang

The lower-body injury Sidney Crosby sustained at the Olympics will significantly impact the rest of his season. According to a team announcement, the Pittsburgh Penguins have placed their captain on the injured reserve. Additionally, the team has activated veteran defenseman Kris Letang in a corresponding roster move.

Although Team Canada, largely out of respect for the Penguins, failed to clarify the extent of Crosby’s injury; Pittsburgh did. The team shared that Crosby is expected to miss the next four weeks at a minimum, putting his projected return toward the end of March in a best case scenario.

Obviously, Crosby’s absence will have a significant impact on Pittsburgh’s competitiveness to close out the regular season. Despite their strong performance this season, largely led by Crosby offensively, the team is only one point up on the New York Islanders and five points up on the Columbus Blue Jackets and Washington Capitals. Still, the Penguins have a few games in hand on the Islanders and Capitals, respectively.

Even if the Penguins commit to buying at the deadline, there are few options to fill the void left by Crosby, both on and off the ice. In his age-38 campaign, he’s remained a point-per-game player, registering 27 goals and 59 points in 56 games, averaging 19:35 of ice time per night. There’s a 15-point gap between Crosby and fellow veteran Evgeni Malkin for the team-lead in scoring.

If there’s any consolation, Pittsburgh will be able to move Malkin to the first-line center, where he’s filled in on occassion throughout Crosby’s career. Also incumbered by injuries throughout the season, Malkin has had a quality year when healthy, scoring 13 goals and 44 points in 41 games.

It’ll be interesting to see if Crosby’s injury will have any impact on the Penguins’ plans for the trade deadline. Given that they’re surprisingly competitive this season, General Manager Kyle Dubas has been able to add a few NHL pieces in a flurry of trades while also improving the team’s draft capital moving forward.

Meanwhile, Letang returns from injury after a month, though much of that was from the Olympic break. He had been recovering from a broken foot. The 20-year veteran has scored three goals and 25 points in 50 games for the Penguins this season. It’s expected that he’ll resume his role on Pittsburgh’s second defensive-pairing, alongside recent acquisition, Samuel Girard.