Rickard Rakell Returns to Team Practice; Eligible to Return from Long-Term Injured Reserve on Saturday

Rickard Rakell is getting closer to a return, as he skated with his teammates in a full capacity on Friday in Toronto for the first time since getting injured last month.

“It feels great to be back with the team, practicing with the team, and just doing normal drills,” Rakell said. “So, definitely a step in the right direction. Happy to be back.”

Rakell is eligible to return from long-term injured reserve on Saturday, when the Penguins close out their road trip with a game against the Maple Leafs, after missing a minimum of 10 games (he’s been out for 11 and counting) and 24 calendar days.

“We’ll see how he responds,” Head Coach Mike Sullivan said. “We’ll take it day to day. But we’re certainly encouraged with what we saw out there today.”

Rakell last played on Nov. 19 versus Vegas before getting sidelined, a difficult development in what had been a tough start for him personally. He has yet to find the back of the net this season, which is uncharacteristic for a player who passed the 20-goal mark last season for the fifth time in his career, scoring 28.

But when the injury first happened, Penguins President of Hockey Operations and GM Kyle Dubas said they hoped Rakell could use this as an opportunity to reset and go through a miniature training camp of sorts.

“Then when he comes back, (hopefully) everything underlying and his impact on the game remains the same, and the puck just starts to bounce the right way for him, and he'll be rolling like he always has in his career,” Dubas said.

That’s exactly how Rakell has been viewing this whole situation.

“Obviously, I was in a pretty dark place when everything went down,” he said. “But I think I've got some time now to process this. For me, it's just trying to look at this as a fresh start, new opportunities out there, and just try to play my game and reset.”

It’s actually not the first time he’s gotten off to a slow start from a production standpoint. In the 2014-15 season, it took Rakell until Dec. 22 to record his first of the year. Rakell said that trying to play more freely is what helped him break through in that particular instance.

“Like, trust my instincts, and just trying to have fun when I'm playing, not get too much into my own head,” he said. “I think if you ask anybody like, what they're thinking about when they're playing at their best, everyone says they're not thinking.”

Rakell’s teammates have faith that he’ll find a way to get back to doing what he does best, as the 30-year-old winger has been such a good fit in Pittsburgh since being acquired from Anaheim at the 2022 trade deadline. He’s the rare player who has chemistry with both Sidney Crosby and Evgeni Malkin, able to go back and forth between those lines in the top six.

With Bryan Rust also sidelined week-to-week with an upper-body injury, Rakell practiced with Guentzel and Crosby this afternoon.

“He's a great player, and to see a guy go through an injury, you never want that to happen,” Guentzel said. “So, it's nice to have him back on the ice. I'm not sure what's going to happen, but it's been fun to see him out there, and hopefully get back soon.”

When comparing the two today, the captain said he feels like Rakell is a really good 1-on-1 player who tends to slow things down when he has the puck, while Rust tries to beat guys with speed.

“I think Raks, he probably stickhandles around or through guys. I think other than that, though, plays a pretty fast game,” Crosby said. “So I wouldn't say Raks slows it down per se, but just the way he thinks I think he's probably looking to beat guys a little bit more and make those little plays.”

Here is the full workflow the Penguins used…

Guentzel-Crosby-Rakell

Smith-Malkin-Puustinen

Zohorna-Eller-O’Connor

Harkins-Gruden-Carter

Graves-Letang

Pettersson-Karlsson

Joseph-Ludvig

Shea-Ruhwedel

PP1: Karlsson-Malkin-Puustinen-Crosby-Guentzel

PP2: Letang-Smith-Eller-Rakell-Carter