Pittsburgh Penguins forward Jake Guentzel, one of the team’s top players, suffered an undisclosed injury in the late stages of a 5-2 home loss to the Florida Panthers at PPG Paints Arena.

Coach Mike Sullivan did not provide a substantive update on Guentzel’s status other than to indicate he was being evaluated.

Guentzel did not record a shift beyond the 8:02 mark of the third period. On his final shift, he was hit by Florida’s Niko Mikkola in the neutral zone, then further clashed with the 6-foot-5, 206-pound defenseman around the Panthers net.

Any potential absence by Guentzel would be damaging on several fronts.

Typically deployed on the top line and the top power-play unit along with Sidney Crosby, Guentzel is one of the team’s leading scorers with 52 points (22 goals, 30 assists) in 50 games.

During Wednesday’s contest, he had the primary assist on the Penguins’ opening goal by linemate Bryan Rust at 15:24 of the second period.

Beyond his considerable impact on the ice, Guentzel’s status as a pending unrestricted free agent this upcoming offseason has led to plenty of speculation he could be dealt at the upcoming trade deadline on March 8.

Any prolonged absence would negatively impact any demand for his services.

The Penguins entered Wednesday’s game with a handful of injuries that landed fourth-line forwards Noel Acciari and Jansen Harkins on injured reserve due to concussions. And with limited salary cap space, they were unable to recall a forward from Wilkes-Barre/Scranton of the American Hockey League, forcing them to dress an irregular lineup of 11 forwards and seven defensemen against the Panthers.

Any potential transactions to replace Guentzel would likely require moving Acciari or Harkins to long-term injured reserve in order to create salary cap space.

The Penguins traveled following Wednesday’s game for a road game against the Chicago Blackhawks on Thursday.

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