Defenseman Jamie Oleksiak is on track to make his return to the Pittsburgh Penguins lineup for the first time since suffering a concussion in a fight with Washington’s Tom Wilson on Dec. 19.
Oleksiak has been cleared to return since Dec. 29, but he has been a healthy scratch for the past three games as the Penguins have gone on their longest winning streak of the season.
Based on personnel groupings at morning skate, Oleksiak will replace Juuso Riikola on a defense pair with Olli Maatta when the Penguins take on the Winnipeg Jets on Friday night.
The Penguins want the 6-foot-7 Oleksiak in the lineup against the Jets, who are one of the bigger, stronger teams in the league.
“I think it certainly has something to do with it, for sure,” coach Mike Sullivan said. “Jamie’s a guy that brings a lot of size and strength and grit to our blue line. He’s hard to play against. When we play against bigger, stronger teams, he’s a guy that can be very effective for us.”
Oleksiak was injured on his first shift of the Dec. 19 game at Washington. Since then, the Penguins have won seven straight, allowing a total of nine goals in the process. As such, he found cracking the lineup difficult.
“Team’s been playing well,” Oleksiak said. “It’s just making sure I’m getting my skating legs under me and putting in the work off the ice so that when you come in, you’re stepping in pretty seamlessly. It’s obviously nice seeing the team win. You want to be a part of it. It’s just part of being a professional, staying ready.”
The last time the Penguins played Winnipeg, the 255-pound Oleksiak had a memorable collision with 260-pound Jets defenseman Dustin Byfuglien.
While killing a penalty, Oleksiak saw a loose puck that he knew he needed to push deep into the defensive zone. Byfuglien was also pursuing the puck.
“I saw someone come from the corner of my eye. I didn’t know it was Byfuglien to be honest with you,” Oleksiak recalled. “I kind of figured I was going to take a hit. Kind of surprised me how much momentum went into me. I found out later it was Buff. That’s a lot of meat running into each other, you know what I mean? Not the most fun thing ever.”
According to official rosters, Oleksiak and Byfuglien are the heaviest players in the league.
Byfuglien suffered a concussion in the collision with Oleksiak. Upon returning to the lineup, he suffered a lower-body injury Dec. 29 that is expected to sideline him for about a month.
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Jonathan Bombulie is a Tribune-Review staff writer. You can contact Jonathan at jbombulie@tribweb.com or via Twitter @BombulieTrib.
