The Pittsburgh Penguins have announced that forward Teddy Blueger has been activated off of injured reserve. In a corresponding move, forward Filip Hallander was re-assigned to their AHL affiliate, the Wilkes-Barre Scranton Penguins.
This move puts Blueger in line to make his season debut. He’s missed all of the Penguins’ games this season after suffering an upper-body injury in the preseason. Last year, Blueger scored a healthy nine goals and 28 points in 65 games while also contributing as the team’s most heavily-utilized penalty-killing forward.
In Blueger’s absence, the Penguins have run offseason trade acquisition Ryan Poehling as the team’s fourth-line center. With Blueger now healthy, Poehling’s time in Blueger’s spot in the lineup may have come to an end.
The 23-year-old Poehling hasn’t been outright bad this year, but his three points in 15 games are definitely lower than the production the Penguins could expect out of Blueger. Poehling has also functioned in Blueger’s role as the Penguins’ top penalty-killing center so far this year, but with the team’s penalty kill ranked ninth-worst in the NHL with a 75.5% kill rate, it’s likely that Blueger resumes his role there as well.
The Penguins haven’t looked like a contender so far this season and currently sit second-to-last in the Metropolitan Division. While the team’s issues may run deeper than just not having their ideal fourth-line center, getting Blueger back from injury is certainly a positive development.
As for Hallander, the 22-year-old prospect forward has gotten off to a scorching hot start with AHL Wilkes-Barre Scranton. He has nine points in 10 games so far this year and should remain near the top of the team’s depth chart in terms of priority forward call-ups.