The Penguins placed four players on injured reserve Sunday, and defenseman Ryan Graves is out indefinitely with a lower-body injury.
Justin Brazeau and Ben Kindel are both week-to-week with lower-body injuries, while Blake Lizotte is day-to-day with an upper-body issue.
That's on top of Bryan Rust, who is being evaluated for an upper-body injury, and Tristan Broz, who is being evaluated for a lower-body injury.
The Penguins open the regular season Wednesday in Philadelphia.
Graves logged 20:47 in a 4-0 preseason loss at Columbus on Thursday.
Kindel is the one that stings most. The 19-year-old put up 35 points in 77 games last season.
So who fills all those holes?
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Ryan Graves out indefinitely as Penguins place four players on IR
The Penguins drafted Kindel 11th overall in 2025, and he had 99 points for the Calgary Hitmen the season before turning pro.
He also got his first taste of the playoffs last spring, dressing for six postseason games.
Brazeau was a real contributor, too, with 17 goals and 34 points in 64 games last season.
At 6-foot-7 and 236 pounds, he's not the kind of body a team replaces off the waiver wire.
He has always been able to finish, too. He scored 61 goals for North Bay in the OHL in 2018-19.
Lizotte added 19 points in 55 games and carries a $2,250,000 cap hit through 2028-29.
The veteran center has 434 NHL games on his resume, split between Los Angeles and Pittsburgh.
This is the worst possible timing. Losing four players to IR before a single regular-season game puts real pressure on a group that already had questions.
It's like packing for a road trip and watching half your luggage slide off the roof rack before you leave the driveway.
There was some good news Saturday. Sidney Crosby, Ville Koivunen and Nicholas Robertson all scored in a 3-1 win in Buffalo.
The Penguins finished the preseason 2-2-0, and after Philadelphia they host Montreal on October 3.
Day-to-day and week-to-week are the good labels here. Indefinitely is the one that should keep Kyle Dubas up at night.
Are the Penguins in trouble to start the season with six forwards and defensemen hurt?
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