Penguins place Jake Guentzel on IR, expected to miss up to four weeks

The Pittsburgh Penguins placed forward Jake Guentzel on Injured Reserve (IR) Thursday, saying the team’s leading scorer is expected to miss up to four weeks with a projected return in early March.

The team also also announced they recalled three forwards from the AHL’s Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins: Jonathan Gruden, Vinnie Hinostroza and Valtteri Puustinen.

The 29-year-old Guentzel left Wednesday’s game against the Florida Panthers. There didn’t appear to be a specific play that caused the injury, but he did take a few hits which may have caused some kind of issue for him. He left the game with an assist and three shots on net.

Guentzel has 22 goals and 30 assists for 52 points in 50 games this season, tied for the team lead in points with Sidney Crosby. The native of Omaha, Ne. was on pace for a second 80-point season, the first one he achieved in 2021-22, recording 84 points (40 goals and 44 assists) in 76 games.

Through eight NHL seasons, all with the Penguins, Guentzel has 219 goals and 247 assists for 466 points in 503 career games. Taken in the third round of the 2013 NHL Entry Draft, he made his debut during the 2016-17 season, where he helped the Penguins win a Stanley Cup championship.

Guentzel is currently in the final year of a five-year contract with a $6 million cap hit, and will be an unrestricted free agent in the 2024 offseason, a big reason why he’s a potential trade target for teams at the 2024 trade deadline.

The Penguins currently sits in seventh in the Metropolitan Division with a 23-20-7 record, seven points behind the Detroit Red Wings for the final wild card spot in the Eastern Conference. Pittsburgh will look to end their three-game losing streak when they visit Chicago to take on the Blackhawks on Thursday at 8:30 p.m. EST.