The most important development in Pittsburgh Penguins camp Monday afternoon probably wasn’t anything that happened at the NHL trade deadline. It was when the injury report was released.
The Penguins lost both of their top-pair defensemen, Kris Letang and Brian Dumoulin, to injuries during Saturday’s outdoor game in Philadelphia. Dumoulin suffered a concussion on a hit by Flyers winger Wayne Simmonds. Letang suffered an upper-body injury when he was tackled by Shayne Gostisbehere in the scrum that followed.
Dumoulin is out with a concussion and Letang will be evaluated on a day-to-day basis for an upper-body injury, coach Mike Sullivan said.
While neither injury could accurately be described as minor, both Sullivan and general manager Jim Rutherford said they’re encouraged by the reports they’ve received from medical personnel. They’re preparing to be without two of their more important players for a matter of days, not weeks.
For Tuesday’s game in Columbus, their spots will be filled by Juuso Riikola, who has been a healthy scratch the previous four games, and Zach Trotman, who was called up from Wilkes-Barre/Scranton on Monday afternoon.
Newly acquired Erik Gudbranson will not play against the Blue Jackets due to immigration issues.
