Penguins place defenseman Kris Letang on long-term injured reserve
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Penguins defenseman Kris Letang has been placed on long-term injured reserve retroactive to Dec. 28.
His status was announced by the team on Friday afternoon.
Previously designated to regular injured reserve, Letang has missed the past nine games due to an undisclosed injury as well as personal matters following the death of his father, Claude Fouquet, on Dec. 31.
Letang has played in 29 games this season and has 16 points (two goals, 14 assists) while averaging 24:32 of ice time per contest.
While players are designated to long-term injured reserve, a team can temporarily relieve itself of that player’s salary cap hit. Any player on long-term injured reserve must carry that designation for 10 games and 24 days on the NHL calendar.
In addition to the nine games he has been sidelined for, Letang has missed 23 days. He carries a salary cap hit of $6.1 million.
Designating Letang to long-term injured reserve does not necessarily reflect the severity of an injury and is likely procedural in order to activate fellow right-handed defenseman Jeff Petry from long-term injured reserve.
Sidelined since suffering a suspected left arm injury on Dec. 10, Petry has missed the past 16 games and 41 days.
Petry carries the second-highest salary cap hit on the roster at $6.25 million. In 28 games this season, Petry has 12 points (three goals, nine assists) while averaging 22:20 of ice time per contest.
Notes:
• Penguins goaltender Tristan Jarry was activated from regular injured reserve on Friday afternoon. Sidelined for the past seven games due to a suspected right leg injury, Jarry has appeared in 25 games this season, earning a 15-5-4 record, a 2.75 goals-against average, a .918 save percentage and one shutout.
• Also on Friday afternoon, the Penguins assigned defenseman Jan Rutta to regular injured reserve. He has missed the past two games due to an undisclosed injury. In 42 games this season, Rutta has eight points (three goals, five assists) while averaging 17:51 of ice time per contest.
• Reserve defenseman Taylor Fedun and goaltender Dustin Tokarski were assigned to Wilkes-Barre/Scranton of the American Hockey League (AHL).
Recalled to the NHL roster on Jan. 12, Fedun was a healthy scratch for all four games he was eligible for following the recall. Serving as Wilkes-Barre/Scranton’s captain, Fedun has appeared in 30 AHL games this season and has two assists.
As for Tokarski, after being recalled on Jan. 3, he appeared in two games and had a 1-1-0 record, a 2.67 goals against average and a .915 save percentage. With Wilkes-Barre/Scranton, Tokarski has played in 18 games and has an 8-6-4 record, a 2.22 goals against average, a .926 save percentage and one shutout.