Mike Matheson to be out ‘longer-term’ with upper-body injury, placed on injured reserve

Following Sunday’s shootout win against the Washington Capitals, Penguins head coach provided an update on defenseman Mike Matheson, who did not play in the game.

Sullivan clarified that Matheson was not a healthy scratch and that he will be out of the lineup on a ‘longer-term’ basis with an upper-body injury.

Matheson was injured during the second game of the season, played against the Philadelphia Flyers on Friday night.

Matheson, who was acquired in a trade with the Florida Panthers during the offseason, played in both Penguins games against the Flyers, and took two penalties during the two games.

Juuso Riikola slotted into the lineup in place of Matheson on Sunday.

Sullivan did not have a specific timeframe to elaborate on other than ‘longer-term.’

The team announced Sunday that Matheson was placed on injured reserve.

Should Matheson be placed on Long Term Injured Reserve, his $4.875M cap hit could potentially be coming off the books and give the team some cap relief, although it’s not necessarily needed right now.

According to CapFriendly, the team has approximately $1.2M in cap space as it stands before any roster moves related to Matheson’s injury.