CRANBERRY, Pa. -- Erik Karlsson plans to play for the Pittsburgh Penguins in their regular-season opener against the New York Rangers at PPG Paints Arena on Wednesday (7:30 p.m. ET; MAX, TNT).
On Saturday, the 34-year-old defenseman said he will be able to “with ease.”
"I feel pretty good. Good enough,” said Karlsson, day to day with an upper-body injury since training camp opened Sept. 18. “The season opener has always been the goal. It's looking like that's going to happen. It's going to be nice to get a few practices in with the regular group and get things going there.
“Unfortunate situation, but making the best out of the situation. Not too worried about it."
Karlsson, entering his 16th NHL season, took contact for the first time Saturday. He rotated on a third defense pair in a morning skate Friday, taking no contact for a second consecutive day after skating on an individual basis the previous two.
After participating in the Penguins' annual “Summer Sticks” golf outing Sept. 12, Karlsson was held off the ice for the first three days of training camp before beginning to skate on an individual basis Sept. 21.
Karlsson appeared on Golf Digest’s “The Loop” podcast Monday, saying he intended to play in the opener.
“I’m an avid golfer and I know he announced on one of my golf podcasts that he was going to be ready for Game 1," Pittsburgh coach Mike Sullivan said, "so I’m assuming he is.”
Last season, Karlsson led Penguins defensemen with 56 points (11 goals, 45 assists) in 82 games. He was acquired from the San Jose Sharks on Aug. 6, 2023, in a three-team trade involving the Montreal Canadiens.
He said the injury resulted from pushing too hard late in the offseason.
"Just working out, wear and tear,” Karlsson said. “Had a really good summer. Feeling a little bit too young and probably overdid it a little bit. And this time of the year, being a little bit extra cautious was, I think, part of it. But I think from the start, it was nothing we were too worried about.
“That's why we didn't make it a big deal. I just needed some time off to let a few things settle down and, once they did, I was pretty much good to go. The goal was always to play the first game of the season. It's looking like we're going to accomplish that with ease."
When healthy, Karlsson will likely reunite with Marcus Pettersson on one of the top two defense pairs.
“It’s awesome to see,” Pettersson said. “You can tell how good of a player he is. It doesn’t matter if he’s missed a few weeks with an injury. He’s dialed in right away. So for sure, it brings an uplifting spirit to the whole team.”
The Penguins worked solely on special teams Saturday.
Karlsson was on the left flank of the top power play with fellow defenseman Kris Letang at the point. Sidney Crosby, Evgeni Malkin and Rickard Rakell filled out the rest of the unit with forward Bryan Rust, usually a member, day to day with a lower-body injury.
Sullivan said he is preparing to start the regular season with two defensemen on the power play, which ranked 30th in the NHL (15.3 percent) when Pittsburgh missed the Stanley Cup Playoffs for a second straight season.
“We all know that we’re a much better team, much better player personnel than we showed last year,” Karlsson said. “There’s nothing that we can do about that now but I think everybody is motivated and excited about the upcoming season. I strongly believe that (the) power play is not going to be something that’s going to be discussed in a bad way this year.”
