Penguins’ Erik Karlsson Breaks Silence on Undisclosed Injury

Pittsburgh Penguins defenseman Erik Karlsson has yet to make it to the ice during an exhibition matchup this preseason while he deals with a nagging undisclosed injury.

Charles LeClaire-Imagn Images / Charles LeClaire-Imagn Images

Karlsson remains sidelined, but he seems to be determined to suit up for the team's season opener on Oct. 9 despite still being dealing with an upper-body injury.

Karlsson, who has missed all preseason games, resumed skating this week and remains optimistic about his return. That's what he said on "The Loop" podcast on Wednesday, via B/R Open Ice.

According to B/R Open Ice, Erik Karlsson said that "he plans on playing in the Penguins' season opener despite an undisclosed injury keeping him out of training camp practices and preseason games."

Karlsson is quoted saying, "Yeah, that's the plan."

Erik Karlsson said that he plans on playing in the Penguins' season opener despite an undisclosed injury keeping him out of training camp practices and preseason games.

Erik Karlsson said that he plans on playing in the Penguins' season opener despite an undisclosed injury keeping him out of training camp practices and preseason games.

(via @GolfDigest's "The Loop" Podcast) pic.twitter.com/krIluP6r8r

— B/R Open Ice (@BR_OpenIce) October 2, 2024

In the latest update from Penguins head coach Mike Sullivan, issued on Tuesday, he described the star defenseman's progress as "really encouraging."

"(Tuesday) was really encouraging," Sullivan said, via Seth Rorabaugh of TRIB Live. "That's a big step forward. Certainly, today was a good day."

However, this optimism is tempered by reports of a potential setback. According to The Athletic's Josh Yohe, Karlsson had been making strides in his recovery but was recently pulled from on-ice activities for several days.

Yohe noted that the Penguins are not offering specifics, but it's clear the team is being cautious with Karlsson's return.

"The Penguins naturally aren't giving away any injury specifics but it's fair to surmise Karlsson endured some kind of a setback during the past week," Yohe wrote on Monday. "Karlsson has missed all of training camp with an upper-body injury.

"He was skating regularly for about a week, then had a couple of scheduled days off from the ice, but was shut down from skating during each of the past four days."