Ryan Graves' friendly fire results in unfortunate injury

It is just about time for hockey season to return and as the calendar makes its way to the end of September, that means it is time for training camp to start. Usually in camp, you see veterans, young guys, and guys on the bubble trying to make the roster. But with that also comes physicality and the Penguins have not done a whole lot of that in training camp in year's past.

But with new head coach Dan Muse at the helm, there seems to be more physicality this time around at camp right before the preseason gets underway. And with physicality at camp, there could be injuries that could occur.

And that occurred for the Penguins on Thursday, as defenseman Ryan Graves threw a hit on forward Kevin Hayes, knocked him down, and was slow to get up and make his way to the locker room with assistance. Hayes did not return to the ice after the hit.

Muse said on Friday that Hayes was not going to even be evaluated for about a month. With that said, it was not guaranteed that Hayes was going to make the NHL roster right out of camp. The Penguins have a lot of youngsters fighting for roster spots, and veterans like Hayes were going to have to earn it.

And after the hit, it now seems that the Penguins will not know what they have with Hayes, under Muse's new system, for a while now. It is very unfortunate that Hayes got hurt on a hit of friendly fire, but that stuff happens in training camp.

Guys are going to be physical and throw their bodies around and make sure they are ready for the preseason and ready for the regular season as the calendar winds down in September and gets into October. Graves definitely feels bad for hurting his fellow veteran teammate, but the Penguins have not been a very physical team in year's past.

But with Muse now around, it seems like he is going to emphasize physicality and using your height and weight to your advantage. Graves did exactly that and it yielded a bad result.