Blueger making good case to stick
He’s made lineup decisions hard, too
Before the Penguins played the Philadelphia Flyers Monday night at Wells Fargo Center, coach Mike Sullivan sat down with Teddy Blueger and began a fairly difficult conversation, explaining to the 24-year-old forward why he would be sitting out after scoring twice in his first six NHL games.
Re-inserted into the lineup Wednesday against Edmonton, Blueger made the most of his opportunity and did his best to avoid a similar chat this weekend, when Evgeni Malkin will return from a one-game suspension and another tough lineup decision will have to be made.
In the Penguins’ 3-1 victory against the Oilers at PPG Paints Arena, Blueger scored his third goal in seven NHL games, further stating his case to stick around and become a permanent part of the big club’s plans.
“It’s big,” Blueger said of his second-period goal and what it did for his confidence. “It helps to fit in a little more, feel like you’re contributing and helping the team win.”
Taking shifts at left wing on the third line, Blueger logged 13:42 of ice time and finished with a plus-1 rating. He attempted two shots, put one on goal and had four hits. Possession-wise, Blueger was over 50 percent in five-on-five shot attempts, scoring chances and high-danger chances.
“Teddy has made a strong case for himself,” Sullivan said. “He’s played extremely well.”
Well enough? That much remains to be seen.
But having someone like Blueger come up and make an impact should not be discounted, as it wasn’t long ago that Conor Sheary, Bryan Rust and Jake Guentzel were making a quick transition from the AHL to the NHL and injecting some life into the Penguins.
Whether it’s seeing a young guy who’s naturally naive and so excited about everything or having veterans worry some about their job security, there are plenty of benefits to having this sort of thing happen.
You also need to have guys out-perform their contracts, which Sheary, Rust and Guentzel did with aplomb. It was one of the key factors in the Penguins winning the Stanley Cup in back-to-back seasons.
“I just told [Blueger] to control what he can, trust us, and he’s going to be a part of this thing,” Sullivan said. “He’s a real good player. We can play him on the wing. We can play him at center. He’s another guy who’s a real good penalty killer. He’s a good 200-foot player. The fact that he’s chipped in offensively and scored some goals for us has been a huge bonus.”
Blueger’s goal Wednesday came on a really smart play. After dishing to Kris Letang, Blueger found a crease in front of the net and buried a loose puck that Letang smartly sent off Oilers goaltender Mikko Koskinen.
While many players his age often don’t think enough to take such a route, it was instinctive for Blueger, who has seemingly had little issue getting his offense to translate to the NHL level.
“I feel like I played pretty well,” Blueger said. “Obviously, there’s still some nuances and stuff to learn and get better at. Overall, the game is slowing down gameby-game. I’m feeling more and more comfortable out there.”
Saturday should say a lot about Blueger’s situation. In one sense, he’s done everything possible to stay in the lineup. It would seem borderline crazy to yank him out after another goal.
But who comes out? The fourth line of Matt Cullen, Zach Aston-Reese and Garrett Wilson was really good. Tanner Pearson has one goal in his past 13 games, but that’s a lot of money on the bench. No way you’re taking out Patric Hornqvist, who has no points in his past 10.
Dealing with something like this, though, is a welcome problem. It’s like having too much starting pitching in baseball. As difficult as they are, Sullivan wants to have these conversations with Blueger or any other young player, explaining why his lineup is competitive.
And for someone like Blueger, he’s doing everything possible to make those decisions as difficult as possible.
“We’ve known he’s a guy who can be a good defensive player,” Sullivan said. “Whether he could bring an offensive dimension at this level remains to be seen. He’s made a pretty strong argument for himself at this point.”