PHILADELPHIA -- Josh Jooris is coming up to Pittsburgh, which likely means someone else will stay down.
The Penguins recalled Jooris, a center, from Wilkes-Barre/Scranton of the AHL late Thursday afternoon, a strong sign that the injuries to one or both of forwards Bryan Rust and Dominik Simon will keep them out for a significant span. Rust sustained an upper-body injury Wednesday night in the 5-2 victory here over the Flyers, and Simon sustained a lower-body injury.
Jooris, 27, was Jim Rutherford's lone acquisition at the NHL trade deadline two weeks ago, arriving from the Hurricanes in exchange for another center, Greg McKegg. The Penguins acquired Derick Brassard from Ottawa in a three-team trade three days before the official deadline.
Jooris, 6-foot-1, 197 pounds, appeared in three games with Wilkes-Barre. scoring one goal, this game-tying goal in the final minute against Milwaukee on Sunday:
Undrafted out of Union College, Jooris has appeared in 204 career NHL games with the Flames, Rangers, Coyotes and Hurricanes. In 31 games for Carolina this season, he had three goals and three assists. Jooris' best season came as a rookie in 2014-15 when he scored 24 points (12 goals) in 60 games for Calgary.
After a day off Thursday, the Penguins will return to practice at 11 a.m. tomorrow at the Lemieux Sports Complex where Mike Sullivan will give an update on the status of Rust and Simon, along with Matt Murray and Zach Aston-Reese.
Murray has been sidelined the past 10 days with a concussion, while Aston-Reese is out indefinitely with an upper body injury. Both players sustained those injuries in practice on Feb. 26.
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