After finally getting healthy, the Pittsburgh Penguins are now back on the mend. The team announced defenseman Kris Letang is out week-to-week with a lower-body injury. Letang suffered the injury in the third period of Monday’s game against the Boston Bruins and did not return.

Unfortunately for Penguins fans, this is hardly unfamiliar territory. Letang has suffered a myriad of injuries over the last five seasons, causing him to miss 20.7% of Pittsburgh’s regular season games over that span. Considering the red-hot start to the 2019-20 season Letang is enjoying, Monday’s injury is particularly disappointing. The Penguins blue-liner scored four goals and added eight assists through the team’s first 15 games.

Lineup Implications

Letang’s injury leaves a massive void atop the Penguins’ blue-line. From a fantasy perspective, Justin Schultz will be the biggest beneficiary. His short-term value skyrockets as he’s set to fill in for Letang on the team’s top power-play unit. Schultz offers tremendous upside as the power-play quarterback for Evgeni Malkin and Sidney Crosby. At even strength, John Marino will jump into the top-four. He will skate with Brian Dumoulin on the top pair, while Schultz and Marcus Pettersson make up the second pair. Jack Johnson and Juuso Riikola round out the team’s temporary top-six. Pittsburgh will take on Chicago at home on Saturday at 7:00 PM EST.