Penguins defenseman John Ludvig rejoins teammates in practice

Rookie defenseman John Ludvig rejoined the Pittsburgh Penguins for a practice session in Cranberry on Monday for the first time since he suffered a concussion on Oct. 24.

Making his NHL debut during a 4-1 home loss to the Dallas Stars, Ludvig was injured in a violent collision with Stars forward Radek Faksa. Attempting to make a hit in the neutral zone, Ludvig wound up striking his face off of Faksa’s helmet and fell to the ice immediately.

One day later, the team announced Ludvig had suffered a concussion.

Ludvig and reserve goaltender Alex Nedeljkovic — who suffered an undisclosed injury in that same game — had been skating independently before Monday’s session.

A left-handed shot, Ludvig skated Monday in a non-contact fashion but displayed few, if any, signs of impairment to the naked eye. During drills, he rotated on the third pairing with Chad Ruhwedel and Ryan Shea.

“He’s doing really well,” coach Mike Sullivan said. “He feels really good. He’s had a number of skates on his own. This was the first team practice that he joined us. He was out there in a non-contact fashion. That was the next step before the contact. We’ll just take him through the process. Right now, we’re certainly encouraged with the progress that he made. He feels really good at this point. That’s certainly encouraging as well. We’re hopeful here that he’ll continue to make strides and finish that return-to-play process, the last step being the contact and putting him in a game-real environment.”

The Penguins claimed Ludvig, 23, off waivers from the Florida Panthers on Oct. 9. He was a healthy scratch for the first five games of the regular season before making his NHL debut.

Ludvig and Nedeljovic are currently designated to long-term injured reserve and are not eligible to rejoin the active roster until Nov. 19.

Nedeljovic worked out on the ice prior to Monday’s practice session.

Smith, Carter absent

Great to see ya, Smitty ???? ???? ???? #VegasBorn | @WhiteHouse pic.twitter.com/0reVaxoEFK

— Vegas Golden Knights (@GoldenKnights) November 13, 2023

Forwards Reilly Smith and Jeff Carter were each absent from practice.

Smith had a pretty remarkable reason for not being present.

He was approximately four hours to the southeast in Washington at the White House with his former Vegas Golden Knights teammates celebrating that team’s Stanley Cup championship from last season with President Joe Biden.

Smith, who scored the championship-clinching goal for the Golden Knights before being traded to the Penguins in June, is scheduled to join his current teammates in Columbus, Ohio on Tuesday in advance of their contest against the Blue Jackets.

Primarily stationed on the left wing of the second line and the top power-play unit, Smith has 12 points (six goals, six assists) in 13 games while averaging 15:56 of ice time per contest this season.

As for Carter, he was withheld from practice due to an undisclosed injury.

Beyond labeling the ailment as “upper body,” Sullivan did not provide any other details. Carter’s gear was present in his stall within the team’s dressing room.

Carter has been scratched for three of the past four games. The 19-year veteran had never been a healthy scratch before in his career.

Primarily inhabiting the right wing on the fourth line, Carter has been limited to no points in 10 games this season while clocking an average of 10:16 of ice time per contest this season.

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