The Pittsburgh Penguins are as close to running it back as possible after the team finalized its 2026-27 NHL roster just after 2 p.m. Monday, with 16 of the 22 players having played for the team last season.
Of course, injuries played a big factor in the final roster, as four NHL players are injured, three minor league players were placed on the injured non-roster list, and in between the two, defenseman Ryan Graves was also placed on the NHL injured list, though he was not expected to break camp with the team.
The four players on IR are Bryan Rust, Ben Kindel, Justin Brazeau and Blake Lizotte. However, Lizotte could return soon. Rust, Kindel, and Brazeau are out week to week.
Tristan Broz and Melvin Fernstrom were the non-roster injured players. Broz suffered an injury that will keep him out for one to two weeks, according to Penguins general manager Kyle Dubas.
Andrei Kuzmenko is in Russia to tend to family affairs after his father’s tragic death in a bear attack last week. The funeral was Monday, and Kuzmenko is on the non-roster list with the full support of the team.
The top of the Penguins lineup is as expected, with Sidney Crosby and Evgeni Malkin beginning their 21st year together. Rickard Rakell, Tommy Novak, and Nick Robertson are in the top six.
On the blue line, there were no surprises. The team had already returned Harrison Brunicke to the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins. The top of the defense corps will again be led by Erik Karlsson and Kris Letang on the right, with Declan Carlile and Trevor van Riemsdyk.
The extra defenseman is Ilya Solovyov, and the extra forward in the current configuration is David Gustafsson.
The goalies will be Arturs Silovs and Sergei Murashov.
Categorized:Pittsburgh Penguins