Penguins Dealing With Two Key Injuries

The Pittsburgh Penguins are dealing with multiple injuries as they open the 2024-2025 season.

Apr 4, 2024; Washington, District of Columbia, USA; Pittsburgh Penguins center Lars Eller (20) celebrates with Penguins goaltender Alex Nedeljkovic (39) after scoring an empty net goal against the Washington Capitals in the third period at Capital One Arena. Mandatory Credit: Geoff Burke-Imagn Images / Geoff Burke-Imagn Images

The Pittsburgh Penguins were hoping to be one of the teams that escaped the preseason without injuries. The past few weeks have seen multiple stars go down and nearly every team dealing with someone joining the injured list.

The Penguins weren't fortunate enough to exit unscathed, and now will enter the 2024-2025 regular season without two key players. According to team insider Rob Rossi, goaltender Alex Nedeljkovic and forward Blake Lizotte are set to miss time.

Rossi reports that Nedeljkovic, who is slated to split starts with Tristan Jarry for the Pens, will be out for several weeks. He has a lower-body injury and will be evaluated on a week-to-week basis.

Blake Lizotte is also set to miss an undetermined amount of time. He suffered a concussion, and the team had no further update at this time. The severity of the concussion and the length of any lingering symptoms could prohibit him from rejoining the time as quickly as he'd like. The team will provide updates on his status when more information is available.

Bryan Rust will not practice today (maintenance day).
Vasily Ponomarev is day-to-day with an upper-body injury.
Blake Lizotte has been diagnosed with a concussion. Further updates will be provided when appropriate.  
Alex Nedeljkovic is week-to-week with a lower-body injury.

— Rob Rossi (@Real_RobRossi) October 2, 2024

With Ned out, the Penguins will likely rely solely on Jarry to begin the season. It also means the team must keep another goaltender on the roster to back him up. That opening could be filled by one of the team's top prospects and last year's AHL standout, Joel Blomqvist. The 22-year-old net minder was drafted by the organization in the second round of the 2020 NHL Draft. He won 25 games in the AHL last year and posted a goals against average of 2.16 coupled with a .921 save percentage. He's yet to play in an NHL game.

If the Penguins don't keep Blomqvist on the opening night roster, it will likely mean that Filip Larsson would serve as the team's back-up until Nedeljkovic's return. The team signed the Swedish goalie this summer after playing last season in the top Swedish professional league. Like Blomqvist, Larsson has no NHL experience.

The Penguins are also dealing with a minor upper-body injury to forward Vasily Ponomarev. Ponomarev is in his first full season with the team and is vying for an NHL roster spot to open the season.

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