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.
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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