The Pittsburgh Penguins have traded forward Teddy Blueger to the Vegas Golden Knights, The Athletic hockey insider Shayna Goldman reported Wednesday.
Blueger, a 28-year-old center from Latvia, recorded two goals and 10 points in 45 games with the Penguins this season. He’s signed through the end of the 2022-23 season at a $2.2 million cap hit.
According to reports by Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman and American Hockey League correspondent Patrick Williams, the Penguins received a 2024 third-round pick and minor league defenseman Peter DiLiberatore from the Golden Knights in the deal.
TRADE
— CapFriendly (@CapFriendly) March 2, 2023
To Vegas Golden Knights
Teddy Blueger
To Pittsburgh Penguins
Peter Diliberatore
2024 3rd round pickhttps://t.co/0pfP08br9J
The Penguins originally selected Blueger in the second round (No. 52 overall) of the 2012 NHL Draft. The 6-foot, 185-pound center made his NHL debut with Pittsburgh during the 2018-19 season and emerged as a regular the following year.
Through 250 career games over parts of five regular seasons with the Penguins, Blueger collected 33 goals and 92 points. He added a goal and an assist in 18 playoff contests.
After moving Blueger, Pittsburgh now has an estimated $4.4 million in trade-deadline cap space, per CapFriendly. The Penguins currently occupy the second Eastern Conference wild-card playoff spot with a 30-21-9 record and 69 points in 60 games.
Looking at the other side of the deal: Vegas now has $7.226 million to play with under the accruable cap space limit (ACSL) after acquiring Blueger. With Mark Stone, Robin Lehner and Nolan Patrick all on long-term injured reserve, the Golden Knights have plenty of flexibility.
Are the Penguins finished after making their first deal of the 2022-23 regular season less than two full days before the March 3 deadline? We’ll soon find out.
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