Penguins Lose Whitney to Injury

Injury news already hitting the wire this summer as Pittsburgh Penguins defenseman, Ryan Whitney, underwent surgery to repair an ailing left foot. This is supposed to keep the up-and-coming defender off the ice for 3-to-5 months, which could, at worst, have him off the ice until mid-January.

His foot injury was quoted as being a chronic condition, but thanks to this surgery, he should be pain free and ready to compete at 100% when he returns.

Even three months will seem like quite a long time, as that will still have him miss time into November. Going into mid-November, Whitney could miss the first seven weeks of the 28-week season, which is fairly significant. That could add up to 17 games out of the year and if he misses five months, you would be looking at missing fifteen weeks or around 43 games.

Already, this is a big blow to keeper leagues and teams that have Ryan Whitney, while poolies who have yet to plan their draft have something new to consider. Where do you take Whitney, if at all? If you have the ability in your pool to switch players midway through the year, like you can in the Sherpa's pool, you're better off waiting and making good use of players who are playing full-time while you wait for Whitney to return.

For the Penguins, however, no one wants to miss out on their number one or two defenseman, despite the savings they'll get against the cap this year. Whitney was a vital part of the organization that got them to the Cup Finals last season and they will need his production to get there again.