Bjugstad will miss playoffs
Rough season over after back surgery
Nick Bjugstad underwent surgery Tuesday and will not suit up for the Penguins whenever NHL play resumes, general manager Jim Rutherford said.
The 27-year-old had spinal surgery for a herniated disc. The surgery was performed by Dr. Bradford Currier of the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minn.
It was the latest hurdle in a tough season for Bjugstad, who was injured early in the season, underwent core-muscle surgery in November and suffered another injury within a few days of returning to the lineup in early March.
Bjugstad played just 13 games this season, tallying a goal and an assist.
Rutherford said Wednesday on a conference call that Bjugstad, who was trying to work his way back from a lower-body injury, experienced a setback. Bjugstad told the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette last month he was trying to stay positive about his injury-marred season and was excited to potentially play this summer.
“I haven’t played many games this year. I don’t want to get used to it. I’m itching to get back,” he said. “And if we can somehow make up for those games and play the
playoffs this summer, I’m all for it. If we have to sacrifice this summer, that’s something, from an individual perspective, that would be great.”
Bjugstad was a candidate to center the team’s third line during the playoffs. With Bjugstad shut down, Jared McCann is the favorite to fill that role.
While the Penguins were hoping for contributions from Bjugstad, Rutherford believes the team still has enough depth to get by. He pointed to the additions of Patrick Marleau, Conor Sheary and Evan Rodrigues at the trade deadline and also the presence of rookie forwards Sam Lafferty and Anthony Angello.
He also mentioned minorleaguers Adam Johnson and Phil Varone as options.
Guentzel on track
While Bjugstad experienced a setback in his recovery, Rutherford said AllStar winger Jake Guentzel remains on track in his comeback from shoulder surgery in late December.
At that time, the team said he would miss 4-6 months.
“Things are progressing fine. We still have a ways to go before we start playing … we’re optimistic that he will be available to play,” Rutherford said.
Guentzel led the Penguins with 20 goals and 43 points when he was injured.
Players feel comfortable
Rutherford said he has not heard of any Penguins players who are hesitant, due to concerns about contracting COVID-19, about returning to the team facility when the NHL moves to Phase 2 of its return-to-play plan next month.
“I would expect that at some point of time in the next couple of weeks that the majority of our players would be back in Pittsburgh,” Rutherford said.
That includes defenseman Kris Letang, who has a history of serious health problems.
Rutherford said “at the proper time” head team physician Dr. Dharmesh Vyas will meet one-on-one with all players and team employees to discuss their risks.
“If there’s risks for anybody, he will lay out those risks and the players or people in the organization will have to make their own decisions,” he said. “But we are very sensitive to what’s going on and we will be very careful with it.”
No salary slashing
Given the financial hit that the NHL and its teams are taking due to the pandemic, there is little clarity on what the parameters will be for the salary cap in the 2020-21 season. But Rutherford said co-owners Ron Burkle and Mario Lemieux have told him that they have no intention to slash player salaries.
“Our ownership is terrific. We’ve had those discussions. We’ve had a lot of discussions about projections as to where this goes next [season] and everything, and it’s very hard to project,” he said. “But the one thing Ron and Mario have said is that, with the group we have, we will contend for a Stanley Cup.”
Bring on Canadiens
Asked about the new 24team playoff format, Rutherford indicated the Penguins, who had the thirdbest record in the Metropolitan Division but the league’s seventh-best overall, were not thrilled about their inclusion in the playin round.
But he said he felt “the league and the players did a good job under these circumstances” and believes the No. 12 seed Montreal Canadiens will pose a challenge.
“Montreal is a good team,” he said. “They dealt with some adversity the same way as we did, with some key injuries. Certainly, they have a good team.”