The IR list for the Penguins is growing. A few days after Caleb Jones was lost for eight weeks with a lower body injury, Rickard Rakell will now be on the shelf for 6-8 weeks after undergoing surgery on his left hand.
Rakell was struck in the hand in last night’s loss to Columbus. He has been a staple on the first line with Sidney Crosby and has eight points (3 goals and 5 assists) in nine games this season. The Penguins have started out a strong 6-2-1 on the season but will now have to deal with losing one of their top forwards for the future.
An internal replacement could be on the table, Ville Koivunen has excelled in the AHL with 11 points (4 goals, 7 assists) in nine games with Wilkes-Barre this month after being sent down following two quiet games in the NHL to start the season.
Koivunen was back with the NHL team in practice on Sunday.
Beyond Koivunen, there were other choices as well. Danton Heinen is leading the entire AHL in scoring with 12 points. Tristan Broz is also off to a good start with six points in seven AHL games. Pittsburgh only has 12 healthy forwards currently on the roster and figure to need some depth from someone in the minors, since the Pens are about to start a busy stretch of the schedule with three games in four days (and four games in six days, five in eight) and have been managing the workload of 18-year old Ben Kindel.
For now, it will be a big blow to lose Rakell, who was third on the team among forwards in ice time and among their leading scorers. Rakell is one of two Penguins who has averaged over a minute per game on their power play and penalty kill (Bryan Rust being the other), so his loss will be felt in a trickle down manner to press many others up a level. That begun with Anthony Mantha taking Rakell’s spot last night on the team’s top power play group.