Penguins' Kris Letang continues injury recovery, unsure if return will be before NHL All-Star Weekend

When Kris Letang took the ice donning a regular black practice jersey Saturday morning at UPMC Lemieux Sports Complex in Cranberry, it was a positive sign the Pittsburgh Penguins defenseman and alternate captain could be on the verge of rejoining the team in a full capacity.

One would be hard-pressed to identify an NHL player who has battled through more adversity this season, on and off the ice, than Letang.

The 35-year-old notably overcame a frightening stroke — the second of his career — in late November, returning to practice with the Penguins a mere 10 days later.

Then, last month, as Letang was sidelined with a separate hockey injury, his father passed away on New Year’s Eve, leading to Letang taking a leave of absence from the Penguins to process the loss and handle family matters.

Last Tuesday, he rejoined the team, practicing in a white noncontact jersey.

Letang spoke with reporters Saturday afternoon in Cranberry for the first time since the death of his father, Claude Fouquet, declining to discuss anything family-related while offering a glimpse into his recovery process.

“I’ve been feeling better and better every day,” he said. “We go day by day, especially with the (NHL All-Star) break upcoming, but it’s looking in the right direction.”

Letang said he did not know if he’d be back in the Penguins’ nightly lineup before the NHL All-Star Weekend (Feb. 3-4). He has missed the past 10 games and Friday was placed on long-term injured reserve.

Any player on long-term injured reserve must carry that designation for 10 games and 24 days on the NHL calendar. He already has reached that threshold.

Letang has played in 29 games this season and has 16 points (two goals, 14 assists) while averaging 24 minutes, 32 seconds of ice time.

As for his wearing of a regular practice jersey as opposed to a noncontact white one, Letang simply explained that because he was subbing in on the Penguins’ second power-play unit, he didn’t want there to be an overload of different-colored jerseys.

So, in other words, the Penguins will continue to navigate their season without him.

Per Mike Sullivan, Letang will not travel with the Penguins for their upcoming Sunday afternoon game against the New Jersey Devils.

“He obviously missed a few weeks (and) wasn’t on the ice for awhile, so we’re trying to get him some repetitions and build his conditioning — things of that nature,” Sullivan said. “He’s in that process right now. But I think he looks a lot better every day. You can see the conditioning, his timing — things of that nature — are getting better with every practice he has.”

When he was in the earlier stages of grieving the death of his father, the Penguins organization rallied around Letang, traveling to Montreal to attend funeral services.

Taking things one step at a time and recrafting the routine of practicing has allowed a sense of normalcy to return for Letang.

“It feels great,” Letang said. “Honestly, it was an emotional time and I’m grateful for everything the team has done for me the last few weeks. It’s good to be back with these guys.”

Not to mention, in demonstrating how to persevere through injury as well as a family tragedy, Letang sets an example for younger players around him.

“Everything that he’s been through, it would be tough on anybody in this world,” fellow defenseman P.O Joseph said. “Nobody should go through that stuff in a month. You see how strong he is mentally and how positive that he is after all that’s been happening — it’s fun to see. It’s a learning (experience) for every single guy to look at.”