Penguins activate Brandon Tanev off injured reserve

The Pittsburgh Penguins have been playing well, but should receive a big boost on their bottom-six as forward Brandon Tanev, who has been out since March 18 with an upper-body injury, has been activated off of injured reserve. He’s expected to be in the lineup for Pittsburgh’s for today’s game against the New York Islanders.

Tanev should provide the team with quite a bit of energy, which is what he’s known for and why Pittsburgh went out and signed the 29-year-old to a six-year, $21M contract in the summer of 2019. That was a high price to pay for a bottom-six player. However, the Penguins felt that his energy and abrasiveness was critical to getting the team deep into the playoffs.

The forward has been impressive, however, since joining Pittsburgh. He tallied 244 hits in 2019-20 to go with 11 goals and 25 points. His production looked like he might meet with some career highs this year before he got injured. He had seven goals and 16 points in 32 games to go with 139 hits.