If nothing else, the Penguins are certainly getting a strong assessment of their organizational depth as the injury bug takes a bite out of the NHL roster.
On Thursday, forward Teddy Blueger was the latest player recalled from Wilkes-Barre/Scranton after the team announced that Tom Kuhnhackl and Carter Rowney would be out with lower body injuries. He'll accompany the team on its trip to Dallas and St. Louis.
Blueger, 23, has 26 points (12 goals and 14 assists) in 45 AHL games this season with Wilkes-Barre. The 6-foot, 195-pound Latvian has seven points in his last 14 games.
The Penguins' second-round pick in the 2012 NHL Draft, which was held in Pittsburgh, will look to make his NHL debut Friday night against the Stars.
Blueger joins a list of Wilkes-Barre forwards to be recalled in recent weeks, including Dominik Simon, Daniel Sprong, Jean-Sebastien Dea and Zach Aston-Reese. Our Taylor Haase had this profile of Blueger last month.
Before Blueger, Aston-Reese had been the most recent call-up. He's now a "savvy veteran" of two NHL games. He says there's an adjustment he's had to make with the speed of the NHL game and players' ability to make plays in tighter spaces.
"Whatever league you're in, when guys go down, other guys need to step up," Aston-Reese. "There's more that's asked of you and there's room for opportunity and you just have to make the most of it."
Kuhnhackl is out week to week while Rowney is day to day, according to Mike Sullivan. That's in addition to Patric Hornqvist, who remains out week to week. As expected, both Kunhackl and Hornqvist we’re officially placed on IR.
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