Penguins A to Z: Teddy Blueger should be a leading offseason priority
With the Penguins in the midst of their offseason, the Tribune-Review is looking at all 49 players currently under NHL contracts to the organization in alphabetical order, from mid-level prospect Niclas Almari to top-six winger Jason Zucker.
Teddy Blueger
Position: Center
Shoots: Left
Age: 26
Height: 6-foot
Weight: 185 pounds
2020-21 NHL statistics: 43 games, 22 points (seven goals, 15 assists)
Contract: Second year of a two-year contract with a salary cap hit of $750,000. Pending restricted free agent this offseason
Acquired: Second-round draft pick (No. 52 overall), June 23, 2012
2020-21 season: After a steady but hardly spectacular 2019-20 campaign, there were elevated expectations for Teddy Blueger entering 2020-21. And he largely exceeded them, even if he did miss several weeks due to injury.
At the onset of the season, he found himself on the fourth line but not with his regular linemates as Zach Aston-Reese was on injured reserve recovering from offseason surgery to his left shoulder while Brandon Tanev was elevated to the third line.
Instead, Blueger opened the season with Sam Lafferty and Colton Sceviour on his flanks.
That experiment didn’t last long as coaches quickly lost faith in using Mark Janowski as the third-line center and elevated Blueger to that station by the sixth game of the season with Tanev and Jared McCann on his wings.
By Feb. 11, Aston-Reese was fully recuperated and reunited with Blueger and Tanev. That trio combined for a goal during a 4-3 road win against the New York Islanders.
Blueger was on pace to surpass modest career-bests in goals (nine) and points (22) before he suffered an undisclosed injury March 15 thanks to a cross-check to the ribs from Bruins defenseman Jarred Tinordi.
Missing 13 games, Blueger returned to the lineup by April 11.
With the additions of Jeff Carter on April 12 (via trade) and Evgeni Malkin on May 3 (via partial recovery from a right knee injury), Blueger found himself back on the fourth line in a dynamic that provided the Penguins the depth at center they have long pursued.
In addition to boosting his overall offensive production on a game-to-game basis, Blueger had three short-handed scores, tied for fourth-most in the entire NHL.
Additionally, he saw a modest improvement over his faceoff success rate, rising from 45.1% to 48.7%. And in an odd twist, the typically even-keeled “Terrible” Teddy Blueger led the combat-challenged Penguins in fighting majors with two.
In the playoffs, Blueger pivoted the Penguins’ fourth line between Aston-Reese and Tanev. While Blueger went scoreless in six games, his line was usually assigned to the Islanders’ top line and held the trio of Leo Komarov, Mathew Barzal and Jordan Eberle to one even-strength goal in six games.
The future: Even as a restricted free agent, the case could be made that Blueger is the Penguins’ most pressing free agent that needs to be re-signed this upcoming offseason (with apologies to unrestricted free agent defenseman Cody Ceci).
As obsessive as any NHL player in the finer points of his vocation, Blueger typically offers a fundamentally perfect game to a team that demands precision on every inch on the ice.
And with the likes of Sidney Crosby as well as Malkin each now in their mid-30s, Blueger represents a fairly reliable presence in the lineup should one of the top two centers be incapacitated (as will likely be the case with Malkin at the start of the 2021-22 season due to his chronic right knee injury).
With the salary cap remaining flat, it won’t be easy for the Penguins to find a way to sign Blueger to a long-term contract and address their other needs. They could always sign him to a one-year deal and wait until the NHL’s finances rebound and the salary cap rises before investing in him for more than one season.
Then there is the matter of next month’s expansion draft. Blueger is hardly a guarantee to be included on the team’s protected list. And given his age, his contract status and skill set, Blueger could be an inviting player for the Seattle Kraken to select.
Either way, Blueger should be on the Penguins’ leading offseason priorities, even if their options to keep him are limited.
Seth Rorabaugh is a TribLive reporter covering the Pittsburgh Penguins. A North Huntingdon native, he joined the Trib in 2019 and has covered the Penguins since 2007. He can be reached at srorabaugh@triblive.com.
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