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The exodus of the Penguins’ bottom-six forward group continued on Wednesday night, with Pittsburgh moving Teddy Blueger out to Vegas.
TRADE ANNOUNCEMENT: The Penguins have acquired defenseman Peter DiLiberatore and a 2024 third-round draft pick from the Vegas Golden Knights in exchange for Teddy Blueger. pic.twitter.com/FUqmTnVbf8
— Pittsburgh Penguins (@penguins) March 2, 2023
It’s a nice return for the Pens, Blueger was set to be a free agent at the end of this season. He’s been a shadow of himself since having his jaw broken in January 2022, scoring only three goals in his last 78 games (regular season and playoffs combined).
The Pens already have an in-house replacement for Blueger on the fourth line in the form of Ryan Poehling, though he has been often unavailable due to injuries.
Still, Blueger’s not doing all that much these days and was gone at the end of the season anyways, getting a future piece for him is nice for. The prospect, Peter DiLiberatore, has split his time between the ECHL and AHL and doesn’t look to mean much more than Vegas and Pittsburgh keeping the number of contracts equal.
Blueger’s trade also opens up more salary cap space for the Penguins, who keep clearing away at their ineffective bottom grouping of forwards. The next step will be to add some talent back into the roster.
GM Ron Hextall: “We are grateful for everything that Teddy has done for this team and the organization over the past 10 years. He was one of our most reliable penalty killers and a consummate professional. We wish him nothing but the best going forward.”
— Pittsburgh Penguins (@penguins) March 2, 2023
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