4:09 PM: According to a team announcement, the Penguins organization has confirmed the activation of Lizotte from the injured reserve.
1:28 PM: Penguins center Blake Lizotte will be a game-time decision tonight against the Ducks, head coach Mike Sullivan told reporters, including Wes Crosby of NHL.com. If he plays, he’ll need to come off injured reserve. The Penguins have an open roster spot, so they won’t need to make a corresponding transaction.
Lizotte, 26, signed a two-year, $3.7MM contract in Pittsburgh over the offseason after spending the first six seasons of his NHL career with the Kings. Most had him penciled in as the team’s fourth-line center to start the campaign, but a concussion sustained during a preseason game against the Senators on Sep. 29 has kept him out of the lineup ever since. He was placed on IR to begin the season but has slowly worked his way back over the past few weeks.
With Bryan Rust out week-to-week with a lower-body injury, that’s created an opportunity for some players to move up in the lineup. If he plays, Lizotte will benefit from that. He’s projected to skate as Pittsburgh’s third-line center between Kevin Hayes and Anthony Beauvillier, relays Josh Getzoff of SportsNet Pittsburgh. It’s a marginal increase from his usual role with the Kings over the past few seasons, especially last year when he had to contend with Anže Kopitar, Phillip Danault, and Pierre-Luc Dubois ahead of him on L.A.’s center depth chart.
An undrafted free agent signing by the Kings out of St. Cloud State in 2019, Lizotte has 37 goals, 69 assists, and 106 points in 320 career regular-season games with a +34 rating. He’s one year removed from a career-high 11 goals and 34 points in 81 games in 2022-23 when he averaged nearly 13 minutes per night. He’s just above 50% on draws throughout his career and has historically solid possession numbers, controlling 54% of shot attempts and 52.9% of expected goals when deployed at even strength.
Possession quality hasn’t been an issue for the Penguins’ bottom six this season. Far from it, actually – their “usual” non-Sidney Crosby or Evgeni Malkin of Hayes, Noel Acciari and Cody Glass have controlled 70.2% of expected goals when deployed together, per MoneyPuck. Still, Lizotte has good foot speed and is far more involved physically than his 5’9″, 170-lb frame indicates.
If Lizotte doesn’t play tonight and remains on IR, it’s fair to assume he’ll be activated ahead of their next game at home against the Canadiens on Saturday.