Health-wise, the hits just keep on comin’ for our Penguins.
The team announced today that power forward Justin Brazeau would be out week-to-week with an upper-body injury.
In addition, defenseman Samuel Girard and forward Kevin Hayes are likewise out with upper-body injuries, albeit on a day-to-day basis.
Given that Elmer Söderblom is in many ways a Brazeau clone, one wonders if Justin was nursing an injury prior to the trade deadline. Either that, or POHO/GM Kyle Dubas is prescient.
It remains to be seen if the hulking 6’8” Swede can discover a latent scoring touch, as Brazeau certainly has (16 goals, 30 points in 48 games).
Too bad about Girard, who seemed to find some chemistry with former Avs teammate Ilya Solovyov against the Bruins following oil-and-water stretch with Kris Letang.
I’d expect Solovyov to be paired with Connor Clifton for this evening’s Metro tilt with the ‘Canes. The two formed a tandem for four games prior to the Olympic break when Letang was out, including our scintillating 5-2 victory over the Sabres on February 5.
Ryan Graves, who hasn’t dressed since a 4-1 victory over the Flames on January 21, could be an option as well.
In the increasingly rare good news department, Sidney Crosby participated in the morning skate. Hopefully, Super Sid returns sooner than later. Not to be Cap’n Obvious, but we sure could use him.
