Penguins Update: The Hits Keep ‘Comin’

Injuries continue to take a chunk out of our Penguins and the regular season hasn’t even started yet. First, we lost fourth-line linchpin Blake Lizotte (upper-body) and scrappy forward Oliver Okuliar (lower-body) on a week-to-week basis.

Then forwards Ben Kindel and Justin Brazeau got dinged-up against the Sabres in the preseason opener on Monday night. Initially listed as day-to-day, Kindel’s been downgraded to week-to-week as well.

Looks like all that forward depth Kyle Dubas accumulated over the summer might come in handy after all. In no particular order, the door may have opened for Filip Hållander, Avery Hayes, Hendrix Lapierre and/or Rutger McGroarty to step into the breach. Perhaps longer-shots Brazeau and Tristan Broz as well.

In a parallel incident as shocking as it is tragic, according to reports Andrei Kuzmenko’s father, Alexander, died as the result of a bear attack while on a fishing trip in Southern Siberia. The Pens’ forward has returned to Russia to be with his family.

Our prayers and condolences go out to Andrei and his loved ones in the wake of this horrible tragedy.