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Teddy Blueger, Vancouver Canucks (Bob Frid-Imagn Images)

Canucks 2025-26 Player Previews: Teddy Blueger

Originally posted on The Hockey Writers
By Matthew Zator | Last updated Sep 4, 2025 12:54 PM ET

The Vancouver Canucks head into the 2025-26 season hoping to bounce back from a campaign where they fell from their Pacific Division penthouse and missed the playoffs. After a relatively quiet offseason where they only added Evander Kane up front and Pierre-Olivier Joseph on defence, they will be banking on their core stepping up and returning them to contender status.

As we get closer to training camp, the preseason, and finally opening night against the Calgary Flames, I will continue to get you set for the 2025-26 season with the player preview series, which got started early in the offseason with Aatu Raty and recently featured Linus Karlsson. Next on the docket is Teddy Blueger.

Teddy Blueger

Age: 31
How Acquired: Signed as a free agent on July 1, 2023
2024-25 Stats: 8 goals and 26 points in 82 games
Career Stats: 49 goals and 152 points in 418 games
2025-26 Contract Status: Year two of a two-year contract worth $1.8 million average annual value (AAV)

2024-25 Season Recap

During a season where no one could stay healthy, Blueger was one of only two players to suit up for all 82 games (the other being newcomer Jake DeBrusk). He was one of the foot soldiers in the bottom six and the team’s most effective penalty killer alongside now-St. Louis Blue Pius Suter. Behind only Suter in average time on ice, he averaged 2:06 per game on the penalty kill. While he wasn’t a dynamo in the faceoff circle like the last Canuck to wear No. 53, he was still a decent 50.2 percent, which is about all you can ask for from your centermen.

Blueger also added some offence from the bottom of the lineup, scoring eight goals, which was only one off his career high set in 2021-22 with the Pittsburgh Penguins. He wasn’t afraid to throw his body in harm’s way, too, hitting double-digits in hits with a career-high 104 alongside 43 blocked shots.

2025-26 Season Role & Expectations

Blueger will be counted on to be a key piece of the bottom six again this season. Whether it is as the third or fourth-line centre will all depend on Raty and whether he can parlay his late-season success into a full-time 3C role. Regardless, Blueger will still center the top penalty killing duo, but he will have to break in a new partner with Suter now in St. Louis. He logged 140:42 of shorthanded ice time with him, and as mentioned earlier, combined to form the Canucks’ top penalty-killing tandem and arguably one of the best in the league. With them on the ice, starting goaltenders had an impressive .929 save percentage (SV%) and only allowed eight goals. Needless to say, Blueger’s new running mate will have big shoes to fill.

If last season’s deployment is any indication, the most likely candidate will be Kiefer Sherwood, who came in third among forwards with an average of 1:28 shorthanded. As for who Blueger will line up with on opening night, that again depends on Raty. He could play with Sherwood and Hoglander on the third line or O’Connor and whoever wins the final spot in training camp among Vitali Kravtsov, Arshdeep Bains, Linus Karlsson, Max Sasson, etc. on the fourth line.

Teddy Blueger, Vancouver Canucks (Bob Frid-Imagn Images)

Blueger is heading into the final year of his contract, and his future in Vancouver is unclear at this point. He was brought up in trade speculation in the offseason, but that was before the Canucks cleared cap space by moving Dakota Joshua to the Toronto Maple Leafs. He could still be dealt at the deadline to a playoff contender, but that will only happen if they are out of contention themselves. Blueger is still a valuable part of the bottom-six and a key penalty killer, so he is by no means an expendable piece, especially if the team is expecting to make the playoffs.

Blueger will also represent Latvia at the 2026 Olympics, as he was named as one of their first six players in June. That, and being in a contract year, could give him extra motivation to do well this season.

Final Stat Prediction

Blueger will do what he’s done for the last two seasons he’s been a Canuck: slot in as the third/fourth-line centre, take key draws, and consistently be the team’s top penalty killer. I don’t expect him to deviate from the stats he’s delivered in his first 150 games wearing the Orca. As such, I am predicting seven goals and 25 points, with a lot of time on the PK again.