The Pittsburgh Penguins made a number of moves on Monday in order to finalize their 23-man roster for opening night.
Pittsburgh placed forwards Blake Lizotte, Bryan Rust and goaltender Alex Nedeljkovic on injured reserve on Monday. They also placed forward Matt Nieto on long-term injured reserve and designated forward Vasily Ponomarev as an injured non-roster player.
Nedeljkovic is trying to recover from a lower-body injury he suffered in a pre-season game against the Detroit Red Wings last week. With him out of the lineup to start the season, it means that Tristan Jarry will likely be the Penguins’ No. 1 goaltender to start the season. The two were battling for the spot after Nedeljkovic stole the job from Jarry at the end of last season.
In 38 games for Pittsburgh last season, Nedeljkovic finished with a 2.97 goals-against average and a .902 save percentage
Rust is also a big loss for the Penguins as he was tied for third on the team in points (56) last season despite playing in just 62 games. Rust recorded 28 goals, which was second on the team behind only Sidney Crosby’s 42.
The Penguins open the regular season at home on Wednesday when they host the New York Rangers.