RALEIGH, N.C. – When Pittsburgh Penguins defenseman Olli Maatta went down with a shoulder injury Feb. 11 in Philadelphia, the team said he would be out indefinitely.

Maatta took a significant step toward putting a timetable on his return Tuesday morning in Raleigh.

Maatta took part in a practice with teammates for the first time since getting hurt, participating in morning skate in a non-contact capacity.

“He’s been skating on his own with (skills coach Ty Hennes) for a while now, feeling good enough to join the team for this trip,” coach Mike Sullivan said. “He’s obviously in a non-contact jersey, but that’s encouraging.”

Maatta has a goal, 13 points and a plus-10 rating in 55 games this season.

When he is cleared to return, he could find a top six of Brian Dumoulin, Kris Letang, Jack Johnson, Justin Schultz, Marcus Pettersson and Erik Gudbranson difficult to crack, though that presumes the Penguins will remain fully healthy in the meantime.

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