CRANBERRY, Pa. -- The Penguins got one big step closer to being fully healthy in Sunday's practice at the Lemieux Complex.
Teddy Blueger on Sunday rejoined his teammates for a full practice for the first time since he suffered an upper-body injury on Sept. 28. It was the second time that Blueger had skated with teammates since his injury, having previously taken part in Friday's optional morning skate with a handful of other players before the preseason finale.
Blueger wore a white non-contact jersey during the practice, and Mike Sullivan noted afterward that Blueger is "not full participation, but he's getting a lot closer."
Blueger didn't want to divulge any additional details on the nature of his injury or how exactly he sustained it. He said that the recovery process has been "frustrating," and that he's been "progressing slower than I had hoped." The timing of his injury added to the frustration levels.
"The main thing is the regular season but that was obviously an important part of camp," Blueger said. "Camp was going really well and things were moving in the right direction. It's frustrating missing out and being on the outside. The guys are working hard and trying to build something here and you're missing out on that stuff."
With the season opener not until Thursday, Blueger still has a few more days left to get back to full health and start "building something" with his linemates.
Blueger skated in his usual spot at center on the Penguins' fourth line, alternating with Ryan Poehling during drills. He was flanked by his usual left wing in Brock McGinn, who told me that Blueger's return gave his line a real "boost" in practice.
"It's awesome, he works so hard," McGinn said. "I think we just read well off of each other and play similar styles. So it's a lot of fun. We both try and play a 200-foot game, so it works out good."
Blueger and McGinn's right wing on that line was newcomer Josh Archibald, who isn't quite so new.
Archibald, the Penguins' 2011 sixth-round draft pick, made his professional debut with the Penguins in 2014 and was mostly split between Pittsburgh and Wilkes-Barre/Scranton until he was traded to the Coyotes in the 2018-19 season. He was teammates with Blueger for most of those years, from the time Blueger made his professional debut at the end of the 2015-16 season until the end of Archibald's time in the organization.
Archibald doesn't spend his summers in Minnesota anymore, but when he did, he and Blueger would work out in the same gym in the offseason and skate in Da Beauty League together.
While Sunday was the first time Blueger and Archibald have been on a line together in this camp, the two already have a good level of familiarity with each other. That's coming in handy after Blueger was sidelined for much of training camp.
"He's fast," Blueger said of what Archibald can bring to his line. "He's physical, very tenacious. He's got a good shot. He brings that element of physicality even though he's not the biggest guy. But he's good on the wall, protecting pucks, things like that. He brings a lot of energy, so a great player."
Archibald remembers Blueger as a "smart, hard-working, person and player."
"He plays penalty kill, grinds down on the forecheck and everything like that," Archibald said of Blueger. "But he's also skilled, can make plays and score goals. So I think it'll be exciting now when we all get out there together."
Archibald and McGinn have had time to become familiar with each other as training camp has gone on. They've been together on a line since the end of September, and they were on the fourth line for both of the Penguins' last two preseason games. They teamed up for a goal in the game in Detroit, with McGinn setting up Archibald for a goal:
McGinn broke into a smile when I asked what Archibald brings to his line.
"Oh, he's awesome," McGinn said. 'He works so hard. He brings a lot of speed and he's a little wrecking ball out there too. So it's fun to be on his line and just having someone work that hard on the line. It just drives you and he's a lot of fun to play with."
Sullivan, who coached Archibald in both Wilkes-Barre and Pittsburgh during Archibald's first stint in the organization, said that Archibald has "evolved" over the last few years, and that he's "brought everything we expected him to bring."
"He brings a ton of energy, he can really skate," Sullivan said of Archibald. "You know, he brings a physical dimension to our team. He's great on the forecheck. He's a good penalty killer."
Line combinations certainly aren't set in stone yet and will surely evolve over the course of the season, but it seems safe to say that McGinn, Blueger and Archibald will likely be together to start the season. They're hoping to be a trio that can be reliable defensively, add some speed and physicality to the lineup and chip in offensively when they can. They definitely have the tools to do so.
"It's just a good energy line," Archibald said.
MORE FROM PRACTICE
• The Penguins passed on reclaiming Radim Zohorna, though there's a pretty good reason why. Mark Friedman cleared waivers, and both Friedman and Smith were re-assigned to Wilkes-Barre, giving the Penguins a cap-compliant, 22-man roster. More on all of those moves here
• Blueger, as previously mentioned, resumed practicing in a non-contact jersey. It was his first full practice with the team after previously participating in Friday's optional morning skate with a handful of players.
• The Penguins used these lines and pairings:
Jake Guentzel - Sidney Crosby - Rickard Rakell
Jason Zucker - Evgeni Malkin - Bryan Rust
Danton Heinen - Jeff Carter - Kasperi Kapanen
Brock McGinn - Ryan Poehling/Teddy Blueger - Josh Archibald
Brian Dumoulin - Kris Letang
Marcus Pettersson - Jeff Petry
Ty Smith - Jan Rutta
P.O Joseph - Chad Ruhwedel
• It's a little interesting that Smith and Jan Rutta continued to work together, given that Smith was getting re-assigned shortly after. It could be that Smith's re-assignment is intended to be a temporary move to get cap-compliant and buy more time for another move. Since he's waivers-exempt, he was the only option today to get sent to Wilkes-Barre before Monday's roster deadline. The Penguins aren't married to the roster they have at 5 p.m. tomorrow, it's possible they can still make moves to free up a spot for Smith before the start of the season on Thursday.
• The Giants-Packers game was on in the locker room after practice, I thought it was funny how invested some of the players were. Bryan Rust, Casey DeSmith, Jason Zucker were all yelling back and forth. Tristan Jarry jokingly told the media to get into the room quicker so his view of the TV wasn't blocked.
• Evgeni Malkin's six-year-old son Nikita watched practice from the other side of the glass with some of the equipment staff serving as babysitters. He was in the locker room afterward just sitting by himself in his dad's stall after practice, just chatting with players and periodically making calls to his mother on his cell phone. Nikita was having fun with some of his dad's teammates -- Jarry came in and took off Nikita's hat and flipped it around on his head, both Zucker and Kasperi Kapanen had playful words for Nikita when they came to the locker room. When Sidney Crosby came in he stopped over to Nikita and bent down to talk with him for a few moments, then when Crosby took his practice jersey off at his own stall, Nikita came over and took it and brought it to the laundry bin for Crosby. A little later, Nikita was running around pushing an equipment cart and waving a mini stick around, nearly high-sticking Ron Hextall at one point as he passed by, much to Hextall's amusement.
• The Penguins have a late practice tomorrow -- 6:30 p.m., at PPG Paints Arena. Seems like they're trying to simulate a gameday-like experience as they prepare for Thursday's opener.
