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Erik Karlsson drops major hint on injury return after missing Penguins preseason
Erik Karlsson has hinted he plans to play in the Pittsburgh Penguins' season opener.
He has missed training camp practices and preseason games due to an undisclosed injury. In a recent episode of Golf Digest's "The Loop" podcast, Karlsson said:
"Yeah, that's the plan," when asked about his return.
Karlsson is currently classified as day-to-day because of an upper-body injury. Penguins head coach Mike Sullivan recently expressed confidence in Karlsson's recovery.
"I'm confident that he is going to make progress here." Sullivan said. "Right now, his status is day-to-day...Our team is working with him here, and I am confident that they will have success."
So far, Karlsson has not skated during training camp because of his injury. While Sullivan’s use of the word “confident” is encouraging, it still leaves some uncertainty.
If Karlsson misses any games, Kris Letang is likely to join the No. 1 power-play unit.
Erik Karlsson's skills and experience are important for the Penguins as they start the 2024 season. With the opener against the New York Rangers on October 9, everyone will be watching to see if Karlsson will be ready to play.
Josh Yohe's opinion on Erik Karlsson's injury
The Pittsburgh Penguins star defenseman's return has been delayed due to an injury setback. A report from The Athletic's Josh Yohe says Karlsson has an upper-body injury.
This raised questions about his availability for the season opener on October 9 against the New York Rangers.
"The Penguins naturally aren’t giving away any injury specifics but it’s fair to surmise Karlsson endured some kind of a setback during the past week," Yohe wrote on Monday for The Athletic. "Karlsson has missed all of training camp with an upper-body injury.
"He was skating regularly for about a week, then had a couple of scheduled days off from the ice, but was shut down from skating during each of the past four days." Yohe added.
Karlsson was a key offseason addition for the Penguins last year. The team aims to make a championship run while Sidney Crosby is still playing. Any setbacks with Karlsson could hurt those plans.
Last season, he played all 82 regular-season games, scoring 11 goals and 45 assists for 56 points. This was his second consecutive season playing the full regular season.
So far, the Penguins have not shared specific details about Erik Karlsson's injury.
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