Penguins' Defenseman Trevor van Riemsdyk Returns To Team Practice

Little by little, the Pittsburgh Penguins are finally inching toward having a fully healthy roster. 

And they appear to be getting another player back in the fold relatively soon. 

Veteran defenseman Trevor van Riemsdyk rejoined line rushes during the Penguins' full team practice Friday, which was their first practice since returning to Pittsburgh after their three-game California road trip. Pittsburgh went 2-1 on the trip, with the most recent win coming Wednesday in a 3-2 shootout victory over the San Jose Sharks. 

The 35-year-old van Riemsdyk was skating on the right side of the extra fourth pairing with Ilya Solovyov, while the rest of the defensive pairings from the recent road trip stayed intact. He played in only five games this season before a lower-body injury forced him out of the lineup, and up to that point, he had no points. 

It is unclear whether or van Riemsdyk will be available before Saturday's game against the Ottawa Senators at 7:00 p.m. ET in Pittsburgh.

The lines and pairings, as a whole, remained fairly similar to the ones on display during the tilt against the Sharks. With van Riemsdyk back in the mix, it is unclear how or if he will fit into the lineup regularly moving forward, especially with the recently-acquired Spencer Stastney playing pretty well to begin his Penguins' career. 

Stastney has been iced on the top pairing alongside Erik Karlsson.

On the forward front, the only notable change was Nick Robertson and Tommy Novak swapping lines and Hendrix Lapierre re-entering the fold instead of Ville Koivunen, who has not been held out of the lineup since Oct. 10 against the Dallas Stars.

Here were the lines and pairings during Friday's practice:

Forwards
Rickard Rakell-Sidney Crosby- Evgeni Malkin
Tommy Novak-Ben Kindel-Egor Chinakhov
Nick Robertson-Hendrix Lapierre-Justin Brazeau
Connor Dewar-Blake Lizotte-Rutger McGroarty
(Ville Koivunen rotating in)

Defensemen
Spencer Stastney-Erik Karlsson
Sam Girard-Kaedan Korczak
Declan Carlile-Kris Letang
Ilya Solovyov-Trevor van Riemsdyk

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