CRANBERRY, Pa. -- On Monday, Mike Sullivan was saying that Teddy Blueger was just 'a call away' after the Penguins reassigned him to Wilkes-Barre/Scranton of the AHL.
Just two days later, the kid's phone rang.
As expected, once it became clear Wednesday that Bryan Rust would be out 'longer-term' with a lower left leg injury, the team recalled Blueger on an emergency basis. That'll make him available for the next game, Friday in Buffalo, and beyond.
Blueger had three goals and an assist in his first nine NHL games, in addition to generally performing well over all 200 feet, including penalty-killing. Before that, he'd been Wilkes-Barre's leading goal-scorer with 21, while his 39 points rank second to Ethan Prow's 40.
Given the lines Wednesday at practice, Blueger almost surely will slot right back onto the fourth line as the left winger next to Matt Cullen and Garrett Wilson.
Sullivan had this to say Monday: “Teddy played really well for us. We’re thrilled with the contributions that he made. I think part of it is just the logistics of the trade deadline and the business aspect. That’s part of it. But certainly Teddy is in the conversation with every lineup decision that we make and he’s one phone call away from being right back here. That’s how we look at it and that was the discussion that I had with him.”
