Pittsburgh Penguins place Marcus Pettersson on long-term injured reserve

The Pittsburgh Penguins announced Monday that defenseman Marcus Pettersson has been placed on long-term injured reserve with a lower-body injury. The injury is retroactive to March 18, when Pettersson was injured in the Penguins’ 6-0 loss to the New York Rangers. 

Pettersson left in the third period of Saturday’s game; he logged 12:18 of ice time and was a minus-3. The LTIR rule states that Pettersson must be placed there for at least 24 days or ten games. If the timeline and recovery go smoothly, he could return on April 11 against the Chicago Blackhawks. This an alarming injury to the Penguins’ defence corps that has already seen injuries with Jeff Petry and Jan Rutta. The 26-year-old has notched 24 points (one goal, 23 assists) in 67 games this season and has been one of their best defensemen all season. He is currently in year three of a five-year $20.1 million extension he signed in 2020. His contract has a cap hit of $4.025 million. 

The Penguins have recalled defenseman Taylor Fedun on an emergency basis from their American Hockey League affiliate Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins. Fedun has logged ten points (three golds, seven assists) in 53 games this season as the baby Penguins captain. He had not played in the NHL since the 2019-20 playoffs when he was with the Dallas Stars; he recorded nine points in 27 regular season games and zero points in 11 playoff contests. In 127 career games, he has logged eight goals and 27 assists for 35 points. He will play tonight against the Ottawa Senators for his first game at the NHL level since 2020.