Oct 24, 2026 10:21 PM
The Penguins continue to get hit by the injury bug, placing yet another player on injured reserve Saturday with a few more expected out of Saturday's game versus Nashville.
The injury woes of the Pittsburgh Penguins continue to pile on only 11 games into the 2026-27 regular season.
And, this time, it's affecting their blue line.
With defenseman Trevor van Riemsdyk already on injured reserve (IR), the Penguins added to the list Saturday, placing the left-shot Samuel Girard on IR with an upper-body injury. He was injured during the Penguins' 6-2 loss to the Vegas Golden Knights on Oct. 17 and has not appeared in a game since.
The placement of Girard on IR gives the Penguins three forwards and three defensemen officially on the IR shelf, with forward Egor Chinakhov also designated as day-to-day with an undisclosed injury. In addition, forward Evgeni Malkin will miss Saturday's game against the Nashville Predators with an illness.
In a corresponding move to Girard, the Penguins recalled forward Avery Hayes from Wilkes-Barre/Scranton (WBS), and he is expected to be in the lineup Saturday.
The 24-year-old forward has five goals and nine points in nine AHL games to start the season, and he registered five goals in 16 games at the NHL level last season. The 5-foot-10, 189-pound native of Westland, Mi. is in the final year of his two-year entry-level contract and has yet to play an NHL game in 2026-27.
Including Hayes, the Penguins - without Malkin and Chinakhov - have just 12 healthy forwards and one extra defenseman, as they recalled right-shot blueliner Chase Pietila from WBS Thursday.
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