To be clear, Dominik Simon didn't lose his job due to injury.
The 24-year-old Czech is still gainfully employed by the Penguins.
What he did lose was one of the NHL's most plum assignments: Sidney Crosby's linemate.
Before he went down with a lower body injury that forced him to miss eight games earlier this month, Simon had been skating as the right winger on the Penguins' top line, centered by the league's best playmaker.
The line of Crosby, Simon and Jake Guentzel didn't skip a beat either. In the five games they were together between Nov. 24 and Dec. 4, Crosby scored five goals and two assists, while Guentzel added four goals and three assists. Simon did his part, too, by adding three assists.
Unfortunately for Simon, it didn't last.
It was eerily similar to last March when, just as he seemed to settle into a regular spot in the lineup, he went down with another lower body injury that forced him to miss a half-dozen games. After that, he never quite got back on track. He was a healthy scratch for the final six games of the regular season and the first four of the playoffs.
"It is frustrating," Simon was saying last week. "You never want to get injured. It's a pain in the ass. You always wish to be healthy but that's what happens sometimes. Can't do much about it. Can just do the best you can when you're off. Work on other stuff and get back as quickly as you can."
However, when Simon finally returned to the lineup last Thursday against the Wild, he didn't inherit the coveted spot alongside Crosby and Guentzel. Not that Simon was about to complain.
"Feels great, man," Simon said. "I missed it."
Mike Sullivan wasn't -- and isn't -- about to take Bryan Rust off the top line, not after Rust scored eight goals and three assists in the seven games leading up to the Christmas break.
But as "demotions" go, playing left wing on the Penguins' second line with Evgeni Malkin -- no matter how much he is struggling -- is a pretty good consolation prize for anyone, let alone Simon, a player with just 66 NHL games of experience.
Against the Wild, Phil Kessel played the right wing on the second line. Against the Hurricanes, it was Patric Hornqvist with Malkin and Simon.
"They're unbelievable players, it's great to play with them," Simon said of playing with Malkin and Kessel. "They make so many plays and stuff. You need to give them the puck a lot and they make unreal things out there. It's good."
It remains to be seen if Simon will be reunited with Malkin when the Penguins host the Red Wings tonight at PPG Paints Arena, but he would seem as good a bet as any.
Following the Nov. 14 trade of Carl Hagelin to the Kings, Sullivan has tried -- with varying results -- Tanner Pearson and then Zach Aston-Reese on Malkin's left side. Now, it would seem, it is Simon's turn.
It can't be understated enough the importance of getting Malkin back on top of his game. Though Jim Rutherford said he is not concerned, that should be a top priority for the Penguins over the final 45 games of the regular season. If last year is any indication, that could be coming soon for Malkin.
In 36 games this season, Malkin has 37 points to go along with an unsightly minus-14 rating. That's just a point fewer than what he had at the same point last year. However, Malkin tore it up in January by posting a league-best 12 goals and 19 points in a dozen games. He eventually finished with 98 points on the season, fifth-most in the NHL.
Of course, that's when Malkin still had Hagelin. Not only does Sullivan need to get Malkin going, he needs to find some stability and comfortability with his linemates, whoever that might be.
That Sullivan would entrust Simon with that role says a lot about Simon's rapid ascension through the organization. The coach certainly has options. Consider: Of the 12 forwards in the lineup leading up to the Christmas break, half of them were former first-round draft picks (Crosby, Malkin, Kessel, Pearson, Derick Brassard and Riley Sheahan). There is one second-rounder (Matt Cullen), two third-rounders (Guentzel and Rust) and a seventh-rounder (Hornqvist). Aston-Reese was the top undrafted free agent in the summer of 2017 after being a Hobey Baker finalist.
But it also says a lot about Simon's improved defensive play and the 2015 fifth-rounder's ability to think the game at a higher level.
If Simon could build chemistry and find success with Crosby, the hope is he can do the same with Malkin.
