The Pittsburgh Penguins are getting set to take on the Edmonton Oilers in the second half of their back-to-back during this Canada trip. But before the puck is set to drop around 9:08 PM, the Penguins are getting reinforcements but are also losing a defenseman.
The Penguins are activating Erik Karlsson off of injured reserve, but Ryan Graves is being put on IR as a corresponding move. It was hard to tell in last night's game against the Calgary Flames that Graves ever got hurt, but he now hits the IR and will be out for the foreseeable future.
The Penguins have activated defenseman Erik Karlsson from Injured Reserve.
— Pittsburgh Penguins (@penguins) January 22, 2026
Defenseman Ryan Graves has been placed on Injured Reserve. pic.twitter.com/lWhcYlWlAQ
The Penguins getting Karlsson back is a welcome sight coming to the end of this road trip as he is the number one powerplay quarterback. Karlsson also plays a ton of defensive minutes a night and is relied upon to shut down most opposing teams best players on a nightly basis.
And the fact that Kris Letang is still out with an injury and getting Karlsson back offsets that for now as Letang is still working through that. Letang usually quarterbacks the second powerplay unit for the Penguins but as of late that role has been handled quite nicly by Brett Kulak.
But getting Karlsson back against a team like the Edmonton Oilers is definitely needed as the Oilers in recent past have had the Penguins number. Getting Karlsson back allows the Penguins to have a bit more offense on the blueline and more shots from the point towards the net which Karlsson specializes in.
It is quite a shock to see Karlsson back this early as it seemed like he was going to be out at least through this weekend but getting him back now is a huge boost. He is going to need to do his best to help handle Connor McDavid and Zach Hyman among others on this powerful Oilers team.