Penguins' Jansen Harkins rejoins practice, ready for call if it comes

From the end of November through early March, Pittsburgh Penguins forward Jansen Harkins carved out a steady bottom-six role for himself.

But March 7, in a deflating 6-0 loss at home to the Washington Capitals, Harkins suffered a hand injury while fighting Beck Malenstyn that required surgery, which has kept him out of the lineup to date.

Ultimately, Harkins’ scrap with Malenstyn has cost him 19 games.

“No regrets. It’s fun. That’s part of hockey,” Harkins said. “That’s, in my opinion, one of the best parts of hockey. It’s a physical game, a lot of emotion and when you have fights in the game, that means both teams are competing. I don’t regret it. Injuries happen. Unfortunate timing, but I wouldn’t change anything.”

Following a recent conditioning assignment with Wilkes-Barre/Scranton of the American Hockey League, where he tallied a goal and two assists in three games, Harkins is available for the Penguins on Monday night vs. the Nashville Predators.

Harkins, a waiver claim from the Winnipeg Jets in October, doesn’t have much offensive production to go along with his 43 appearances, with zero goals and four assists on the year in 8 minutes, 12 seconds of nightly ice time before getting injured.

Although to his credit, he did score a winning shootout goal Dec. 13 against the Montreal Canadiens in the longest shootout (12 rounds) in Penguins franchise history.

Given the Penguins’ situation with regards to the playoff picture, that contribution and extra point gained because of it was not insignificant.

JANSEN HARKINS, SHOOTOUT HERO! pic.twitter.com/oM5LtHNRgJ

— Pittsburgh Penguins (@penguins) December 14, 2023

Whether Harkins will indeed play in Monday’s consequential game at home vs. Nashville remains to be seen, but regardless, he’ll be prepared.

“It’s fun to be back around the team and just being able to be in on regular skates and stuff,” Harkins said. “And obviously, playing is just really fun to be back at it. The timing of my injury was pretty disappointing. Just happy to be back. … I’m ready if they need me, so just show up at game time and see what the lines are.”

If Harkins does suit up Monday, he likely will find himself on the fourth line, where he factored in for the majority of the season pre-injury.

Recently, Jeff Carter has centered that line, with Radim Zohorna and Emil Bemstrom as wingers.

But Zohorna, following a recall from Wilkes-Barre/Scranton, has averaged 5:15 of ice time in two games played since, and Bemstrom has played 5:35 or less in his last three contests.

Harkins, if chosen to play, could give the Penguins a different look on their fourth line.

“(Harkins) does a good job with straight line speed, he’s conscientious defensively, he’s a real good puck pursuit guy, he defends well, he’s pretty good on the wall — those are, for me, (his) biggest strengths,” coach Mike Sullivan said. “I think he’s a guy that can help. He’s helped that (fourth) line all year long, just with momentum by being on the puck.

“A lot of times, he’s the first guy on the forecheck. He can use his speed and his size and his physical stature to get in, lean on defensemen and create stalled pucks, create loose pucks, create turnovers, which gives that line an opportunity to generate momentum for our group.”

After five weeks spent out of the lineup and recovering, Harkins is excited at the prospect of getting back to action in a game with major implications against a tough opponent.

“(Nashville) has a good team over there,” Harkins said. “I think their (defensemen) are really solid, and their goalie’s obviously great. So just trying to make it hard on those guys and give us some (offensive) zone time, give us some momentum. Being able to chip in would be a great start. We’ll see what the lineup is and try to do my part.”

Notes: Defenseman Ryan Graves (concussion) skated individually ahead of the Penguins’ morning skate Monday. … Forward Noel Acciari (undisclosed ailment) participated in a noncontact capacity. Both are on long-term injured reserve and ineligible to return to action for the remainder of the regular season.