P.O Joseph looked different on Tuesday.
He wasn’t wearing white.
Instead, the Pittsburgh Penguins defenseman was in yellow.
And he practiced.
“It was just good to be out there today,” Joseph said. “It’s hard to be in the stands and watching the guys battle like that. It just feels good to go on the ice and battle with the guys.”
Joseph has largely been absent from the battle — either in games or practices — for a month and a half due to an undisclosed injury he suffered in early March. Largely relegated to skating sessions with fellow injured teammates and coaches before practices and morning skates, Joseph formally practiced Tuesday in a full-contract capacity — without a white non-contact jersey — for the first time since he was injured during a 3-2 home loss to the Boston Bruins on March 1.
One thing still appeared a bit off-kilter for Joseph, however.
He was relegated to skating as a left winger on the fourth line, largely as a fill-in for the menagerie of forwards absent due to their own injuries.
“It was a little bit of a joke this morning before,” Joseph said of operating as a forward. “But just being out there is fun.”
It’s difficult to say much of the 2024-25 season has been fun for Joseph.
After leaving as a free agent during the 2024 offseason, Joseph opened the 2024-25 campaign as a member of the St. Louis Blues. A healthy scratch for 10 of a possible 33 games with that club, he was traded back to the Penguins — with whom he played his first four NHL seasons — Dec. 18.
Any hopes Joseph would recapture the reliable form he displayed with the Penguins in the final stages of the 2023-24 season never seemed to materialize. In 24 games since the trade, he has been limited to a pair of assists while averaging 17:20 of ice time.
“It’s been a roller coaster of emotions, I would say,” said Joseph, who departed the Penguins as a free agent in July. “Leaving this place and finding a great place like St. Louis and great teammates (with) the Blues. And then coming back here to home really. It’s been learning a lot, a lot of experience this year. But I took a lot of positives from this year. Been moving around but it’s good to be back here with the Penguins.”
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Joseph’s encore with the Penguins has been in stasis since March. During that loss to the Bruins, he was involved in a check that injured Bruins forward Brad Marchand early in the contest and then was the target of retaliation. Bruins forward Mark Kastelic wound up injuring Joseph with a shoulder-to-shoulder check that eventually landed Joseph on injured reserve.
Kastelic hits Joseph pic.twitter.com/1TzyBAQHau
— dafoomie (@dafoomie) March 1, 2025
“Everything happened so fast,” Joseph said. “We were on the (penalty kill) and I just tried to play hard. But part of the game is contact and stuff like that. I knew what to expect when I saw Brad on the ice. Sadly, it happened.”
If Joseph happens to rejoin his teammates for the regular season finale, a home contest against the rival Washington Capitals, that remains to be seen. Coach Mike Sullivan indicated the door is still open for Joseph to return to the lineup unlike other hobbled players who were shut down for the remainder of the season last week.
It is also curious if Joseph will be a member of the Penguins beyond Thursday.
Just like last summer, he is a pending restricted free agent. It seemed automatic that he would be re-signed after a solid conclusion to the 2023-24 campaign. The team controlled his NHL rights but concerns over a potentially lucrative arbitration award prompted management to not extend a qualifying offer, granting him unrestricted free agency.
After an inconsistent and injury-filled 2024-25, conditions would suggest Penguins management might have a more compelling case to cut ties with Joseph this time around.
“I don’t really think about that stuff,” Joseph said. “Just been working (to) rehab as much as I can to come back on the ice and be ready for anything that can happen. It’s been a tough season. Just trying to show some positives. Whatever happens, happens.”
As usual, Joseph looks for the positives.
“It’s been a hard season,” Joseph said. “A lot of movement, a lot of finding myself. To be able to come back on the ice before the end of the season, it’s a good push. It makes me want to go back on the ice every day until the first day of (next) season. Just happy to be back.”
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