The Penguins have activated Evgeni Malkin off of injured reserve, the Penguins announced on Friday.
Malkin returned to practice on Oct. 28 in a no-contact jersey, and said after that practice he was hopeful to return Saturday vs. the Oilers, the earliest possible return date due to long-term injured reserve rules.
On Oct. 31, Malkin practiced in full, and reiterated his expectation to return against the Oilers.
“Yeah, yeah, for sure,” he said about playing Saturday. “I feel like I’m ready to play. I have two more days, we’ll see if there’s nothing bad. I hope, yeah.”
On Friday, Malkin practiced in full and took regular line rushes for the first time, returning to his spot on the second line.
With the cap relief gone from Malkin's stint on long-term injured reserve, the Penguins now have $2,639,083 in cap space. Sam Lafferty's reassignment to Wilkes-Barre/Scranton on Thursday gets the Penguins at the 23-man roster limit.
