It appears as if the Pittsburgh Penguins will be without Jordan Staal for several more weeks after the star center sustaining another injury at practice today.
Staal will be sidelined for approximately six weeks after taking a puck off the hand at practice and is expected to undergo surgery to repair the broken hand on Tuesday. Staal was expected to make his season debut this Wednesday at Dallas after missing the first 12 games of the season while recovering from multiple infections after surgery last April to repair a lacerated tendon in his foot.
“It’s disappointing on a couple of levels,” Bylsma said of the latest injury. “But mostly it’s personal for Jordan, because he’s had a difficult offseason and training camp. And then to get to the point where you’re looking to coming back to play, having to deal with another injury is disappointing.”
At 22 years old, Staal is already one of the premier two-way forwards in the NHL and a vital asset to the Penguins. If you own Staal in a fantasy league, continue to stash him away on the IR if you have the space. He was centering the second line at practice before the injury occurred and speculations have continued that he will play on the second line with Evgeni Malkin when he eventually returns to the lineup in December.