Penguins place Erik Karlsson on injured reserve

The Pittsburgh Penguins announced on Tuesday morning that they have placed veteran defenseman Erik Karlsson on injured reserve.

The Penguins shared that Karlsson is out with a lower-body injury and that he will be re-evaluated in two weeks.

Karlsson, now in his third season with the Penguins, is turning in the best effort of his tenure with the club under first-year head coach Dan Muse. In the prior two seasons, Karlsson put up 56 and 53 points while playing the full 82 games in each. This year, Karlsson was on pace to comfortably eclipse the 60-point mark.

It is unclear at this time whether or not Karlsson’s injury will threaten his availability for the Winter Olympics in Milano-Cortina in February. Karlsson is currently slated to reprise his 2014 appearance as a member of Team Sweden, and he excelled for his home country during last year’s 4 Nations Face-Off.

In corresponding roster moves, the Penguins recalled forward Tristan Broz and defenseman Ryan Graves from AHL Wilkes-Barre/Scranton while also reassigning forward Rafael Harvey-Pinard to the AHL. With Karlsson sidelined, it’s likely that another veteran right-handed offensive defenseman in Kris Letang will see an uptick in his responsibilities.

Pittsburgh, picked by many to finish at or near the bottom of the Eastern Conference, has proven to be one of the surprises of the 2025-26 campaign. At 21-14-9, they’re right in the thick of a hotly-contested race for the East’s two wild card spots along with Buffalo, Washington, Boston, Toronto and Florida.

The Penguins have three games left on their schedule for the week, and all will take place on home ice. The Tampa Bay Lightning are in town on Tuesday night, with a Keystone State showdown against the Philadelphia Flyers set for Thursday and another Metropolitan Division contest on tap for Saturday night against the Columbus Blue Jackets.