CRANBERRY, Pa. -- Jake Guentzel was a full participant in Pittsburgh Penguins practice Tuesday for the first time since having right ankle surgery Aug. 2.
The forward was expected to miss the first five games of the regular season. He now is taking contact a week out from the regular-season opener against the Chicago Blackhawks at PPG Paints Arena on Oct. 10 (8 p.m. ET; ESPN, ESPN+).
Guentzel could not say if he was ahead of schedule, though.
"It's too early to tell. Just have to wait and see," he said. "Obviously just have to wait and see. It's day by day. … I feel great. It's obviously nice to be out with the guys again, just see their faces and be out with the new guys. So exciting day for sure. Just the first step.
"Just kind of the first day, first step today. Just nice to be out with the guys and kind of see what happens from there. Once again, it's an exciting day for me."
Guentzel has skated throughout training camp, which began Sept 21, working with injured teammates before practice. He practiced Friday in a no-contact capacity before traveling with the Penguins to Halifax, Nova Scotia. He practiced Sunday but did not play in a loss to the Ottawa Senators in a preseason game there Monday.
Guentzel said the ankle injury occurred last season, but he would not confirm when.
The initial plan was for Guentzel to let his ankle heal naturally during the offseason.
In July, the 28-year-old competed in Da Beauty League, a summer hockey league in Edina, Minnesota. When his ankle did not respond as anticipated, Guentzel and the Penguins decided surgery was needed.
"Obviously it's disappointing," Guentzel said. "You never want to go through something like this. But you realize it's part of the game, it's going to happen, injuries happen. So just decided to do it in summer and hopefully kind of see what happens in the next couple of days.
"You never want to miss being around the guys or the situations the team is in. So it's a little easier to do it in summer, for sure. … Just didn't heal properly the way we thought it was going to. So just kind of decided last minute to go this route. Now, we're here. Just hope for the best."
When healthy, Guentzel will assume his role as first-line left wing with center Sidney Crosby, a spot he mostly has locked down since helping the Penguins win the Stanley Cup as a rookie in 2017, the second of back-to-back championships for Pittsburgh.
"I think Jake is a vitally important player for our team," Penguins coach Mike Sullivan said. "He's quietly emerged as, in my mind, one of the superstars of the League. He's a really good goal scorer, he's a competitive guy, but he's got a two-way game also. He plays on both sides of the puck. He just plays the game the right way."
Guentzel led the Penguins with 36 goals in 78 games last season. He has scored 40 goals twice, in 2018-19 and 2021-22.
Since 2017-18, his first full NHL season, Guentzel leads Pittsburgh with 181 goals in 413 games. His 381 points are third, behind Crosby (475) and center Evgeni Malkin (397).
"He's one of those guys that's hard to replace," Sullivan said. "It's no secret that he has a pretty good chemistry with Sid. Those guys, when they're together and they're on their game, they're as good as any duo in creating offense from below the goal line, underneath the hash marks. Those guys thrive in traffic."
Rickard Rakell has been at left wing with Crosby and right wing Bryan Rust during training camp.
That has Rakell, a right-handed shot, playing his off-wing. Once Guentzel returns, Rakell likely would move to the second or third line, part of a trickle-down effect Sullivan said provides balance.
"When [Guentzel is] in our lineup, it gives us the ability to bump guys down a little bit," Sullivan said. "That helps our depth, and it makes our third line stronger, for example. That's the impact, I think, that he has when he's inserted in our lineup.
"But there's no question he's a vitally important part of this team. … When he's in the lineup, it helps the overall depth of the roster by kind of a ripple effect."
The Penguins could have to wait for that impact. Making the call on surgery in August was meant to make his absence as short as possible.
"You don't want to miss too many games," Guentzel said. "So just to have it in the summer and to have a lot of the staff around, I think is a big thing. Because during the season, they're traveling a lot. So it's been huge for me, and it's been nice so far."
