Erik Karlsson shares big injury update on himself.

The Pittsburgh Penguins will have their star defenseman in the lineup to start the regular season, at least that will be the case if he has any say in the matter.

On Saturday, Penguins defenseman Erik Karlsson spoke to the media about his injury status as we draw closer to the beginning of the regular season and indicated that he would be ready to play when the time comes.

"I feel pretty good," said Karlsson when facing the media. "Good enough. The season opener has always been the goal."

It sounds like Karlsson was never truly worried about the possibility of missing the start of the season, but was instead being exceedingly cautious in an effort to not make things worse.

"This time of year being a little bit extra cautious I think was part of it," admitted Karlsson. "I think from the start it was nothing that we were too worried about."

Karlsson also confirmed that his injury occurred while he was training in the offseason, indicating that he may have pushed himself a little too hard in an effort to get ready for this upcoming season in the National Hockey League.

"It happened before camp," confirmed Karlsson. "Just working out, wear and tear. Had a really good summer, feeling a little bit too young, and probably overdid it a little bit."

Karlsson indicated that the biggest thing for his recovery was taking a little extra time off to allow his body to heal properly, something he appears to believe he has done successfully.

The Penguins will kick off their regular season on Wednesday when they take on the New York Rangers, and you can expect to see Karlsson in the lineup alongside his teammates.