Penguins/NHL
To follow up on our Jordan Staal report from Tuesday morning, the Penguins are expected to release some news regarding the injury within the next 48 hours.
As we first reported, Staal’s latest setback has revealed no further damage to the tendon and is not considered serious. The results of the examine were seen as very good news.
However, contacts in Staal’s camp have been adamant that Jordan won’t be at full strength for when players report to training camp on September 17th. The first on-ice session is scheduled for Saturday, September 18th.
The consensus remains that Staal won’t be at full strength for about another four weeks. According to contacts in Staal’s camp, a timetable remains very much unclear because it is unknown how Staal’s foot is going to react once he increases his workouts and is cleared to start skating hard.
At this point his status for the home opener remains up in the air but there is some optimism that he will be ready for the opener, assuming his foot responds accordingly.
Preliminary talk is that Staal may open up camp being regarded as sidelined for two-four weeks and the team will go from there.
Notes: I have been in touch with a number of agents and team contacts in the past couple days. Will have an update this afternoon on the latest free agency talk surrounding the Penguins.
