The Penguins are going to be without another lineup regular when the Bruins come to town as big winger Justin Brazeau is out with an upper-body injury and is day-to-day. This news comes as the Penguins are already without Sidney Crosby due to his injury he suffered in the Olympics and Evgeni Malkin's suspension from the game against Buffalo the other day.
Forward Justin Brazeau is day-to-day with an upper-body injury and will not play today versus Boston. pic.twitter.com/6cSIS43ieu
— Penguins PR (@PenguinsPR) March 8, 2026
Now the Penguins are going to have to change up the lines even more as either Kevin Hayes is going to have to go back into the lineup or new addition Elder Soderblom is going to have to make his debut. This is not ideal for head coach Dan Muse as he has already had to shuffle the lines all week.
It is anticipated that the captain could be back when the Penguins set off on a road trip this upcoming week when they take on the Carolina Hurricanes, Vegas Golden Knights, and the Utah Mammoth. But that is not guaranteed as he has not officially taken contact in practice yet.
But being down Brazeau for this upcoming game is another blow as the Penguins have lost 3 games in a row and recently dropped their last game to the Philadelphia Flyers in a shootout. Brazeau's presence will be missed as he gets after it on the forecheck and is a big body to park in front of the net on the powerplay.
It would be ideal to slot Soderblom into the lineup for his debut as he is a bit bigger size wise than Brazeau and could be that net front presence on the powerplay in place of Brazeau for now. Hopefully Brazeau does not miss too much time with this injury as the Penguins cannot afford it especially with how much tougher the schedule is getting as the season winds down.