Penguins Forward Once Again Placed On LTIR

Pittsburgh Penguins forward Jason Zucker has been placed on LTIR again.

This LTIR stint is retroactive to January 17th, so the veteran winger will have to miss at least 10 games and 24 days from that date. Zucker just was on LTIR from December 19th to January 16th and played in Monday's game against the Vegas Golden Knights. However, he now will be out for an extended period again. 

This has been a hard year for Zucker, and he's even found his name in the rumor mill because of it. In 31 games thus far, he has just six goals and seven assists. However, this constant injury trouble is only hurting his chances of rebounding. 

At this point of the season, the Penguins have a 25-10-5 record, so the playoffs seem inevitable for them. Yet, even though Zucker has been struggling, it still stings that he will not be playing right now. The Penguins are just three points behind the first-place Rangers in the Metropolitan Division, so they understandably would rather be completely healthy than not. 

Alas, here's to hoping Zucker will be able to return once the minimum amount of time passes.

Photo Credit: © Bob Frid-USA TODAY Sports