George Kittle Injury Update: 49ers GM Gives Positive Injury Update on Star Tight End
That the 49ers are 4–1 is remarkable enough - but to do so without a slew of their stars is another feat altogether.
Now, San Francisco - once again looking like an NFC contender - may be eyeing the return of one of its franchise pillars. According to 49ers general manager John Lynch, tight end George Kittle - sidelined by a hamstring injury since Sept. 7 - could soon be back in the 49ers' fold.
Per Lynch on KNBR-AM in San Francisco via Matt Barrows of The Athletic, the 49ers are "fairly confident" that Kittle will practice next week and return to action Oct. 19 against the Falcons. San Francisco visits the Buccaneers on Sunday.
"I do believe we're nearing, we're getting there," Lynch said, referencing the Iowa product's potential return.
Kittle, a six-time Pro Bowler, played only briefly in the 49ers' opener against the Seahawks before leaving with an injury. He caught four passes for 25 yards and the 46th receiving touchdown of his career.
Penguins goaltender Tristan Jarry scheduled to start home opener
Pittsburgh Penguins goaltender Tristan Jarry is scheduled to start his team’s home opener against the New York Islanders at PPG Paints Arena on Thursday.
Coach Dan Muse announced Jarry’s status following an optional morning skate in Cranberry.
The decision to start Jarry comes on the heels of a 25-save effort by goaltender Arturs Silovs in a season-opening, 3-0 win on the road against the New York Rangers on Tuesday.
Muse explained why he is opting to go with Jarry instead of potentially sticking with Silovs after a strong outing.
“It’s so early,” Muse said. “We just want to get everybody going, get different guys going. Tristan … especially the late part of training camp, he was really trending there in a really good direction. We look at all things. We went into it thinking we’d like to get both guys in there early. That’s what we’re doing.”
During the preseason, Jarry appeared in three games and had a 1-0-0 record, a 2.95 goals against average and an .889 save percentage.
Jarry is coming off a tumultuous 2024-25 regular season in which he was waived and sent to Wilkes-Barre/Scranton of the American Hockey League on two separate occasions. At the NHL level, he appeared in 36 games and posted a 16-12-6 record, a 3.12 goals against average, an .892 save percentage and two shutouts.
Notes:
• Muse also announced rookie forward Filip Hallander would be making his season debut. Nothing is certain as to what line he might be deployed on, but during a practice session in Cranberry on Wednesday, Hallander skated on the right wing of the second line in place of Philip Tomasino, who operated as a reserve.
Hallander, 25, returned to the Penguins this past offseason as a free agent signing after spending the previous two seasons in his native Sweden. A second-round draft pick (Nov. 58 overall) in 2018, he previously played in three regular season games for the Penguins over two seasons, most recently during the 2023-24 season.
During this past preseason, Hallander skated in five games and finished tied for second on the team with five points (one goal, four assists).
“He got more and more comfortable,” Muse said in reference to Hallander’s preseason play. “If you look at the later exhibition games that he was in, I feel like he was really at the point where he was starting to play his game. There’s an adjustment coming back over here. The game is a little bit different. Obviously, he’s been over here, he’s played in North America before. But he’s also coming from Sweden (where) it’s just a little bit of a different game. The rinks are sometimes bigger. You can kind of slow things down with a possession game. It was solid at the beginning, but I thought it got a lot better there at the end of training camp. He is playing tonight. He will be in the lineup.”
Last season, Hallander skated for Timra IK of the Swedish Hockey League and finished second in that league’s scoring race with 53 points (26 goals, 27 assists) in 51 games.
• Muse confirmed injured forward Bryan Rust will not be in Thursday’s lineup. Currently designated to injured reserve, Rust has been sidelined since suffering an undisclosed ailment during a practice session Oct. 1.
• Those who participated in the optional skate included:
Forwards – Conor Dewar, Hallander, Ben Kindel, Ville Koivunen, Blake Lizotte, Tommy Novak, Rust, Tomasino
Defensemen – Harrison Brunicke, Connor Clifton, Mathew Dumba, Caleb Jones, Ryan Shea
Goaltender – Silovs
• Penguins defenseman Kris Letang has 597 career assists.
• Islanders goaltender Ilya Sorokin is scheduled to start the contest, according to Newsday. During the preseason, Sorokin appeared in two games and had a 1-1-0 record, a 3.08 goals against average and an .872 save percentage.
• Thursday’s game is the season opener for the Islanders and is slated to serve as the NHL debut for former Erie Otters defenseman Matthew Schaefer, the top overall selection in the NHL Draft this past June.
• Per Newsday, the Islanders’ lines and pairings in Thursday’s morning skate at PPG Paints Arena were:
27 Anders Lee – 13 Mathew Barzal – 21 Kyle Palmieri
29 Jonathan Drouin –
49 Max Shabanov – 44 Jean-Gabriel Pageau – 10 Simon Holmstrom
11 Anthony Duclair – 53 Casey Cizikas – 7 Maxim Tsyplakov
28
3 Adam Pelech – 6 Ryan Pulock
48 Matthew Schaefer – 24 Scott Mayfield
• Boqvist has 99 career points.
• The scheduled referees for Thursday’s game are Mitch Dunning (No. 20) and Gord Dwyer (No. 19) while the linesmen are Steve Barton (No. 59) and Michel Cormier (No. 76).
