Penguins place forward Teddy Blueger on LTIR, recall forwards Drake Caggiula, Sam Poulin
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The Penguins have placed forward Teddy Blueger on long-term injured reserve (LTIR) and recalled forwards Drake Caggiula and Sam Poulin from Wilkes-Barre/Scranton of the American Hockey League (AHL).
Blueger’s designation to LTIR is retroactive to Oct. 11, the first day of the NHL calendar. An undisclosed injury has sidelined Blueger since Sept. 28 when he was injured during a training camp practice. He has yet to play a game this season.
Players designated to LTIR must be sidelined for 10 games and 24 days on the NHL calendar. To date, Blueger has missed five games and been sidelined for 12 days. The earliest he can return to the Penguins’ lineup would be a home contest against the Seattle Kraken on Nov. 5.
Long-term injured reserve allows teams to temporarily relieve themselves of an injured player’s salary cap hit. The Penguins entered Sunday with only $83,158 of salary cap space and placing Blueger — who is in the final year of a two-year contract with a salary cap hit of $2.2 million — allowed them to recall Caggiula and Poulin a day after a 6-3 road win against the Columbus Blue Jackets in which they dressed an irregular lineup of 11 forwards and seven defenseman due to forward Jake Guentzel being sidelined with a suspected head injury.
Caggiula, 28, has appeared in four AHL games this season and has one assist. During the preseason, Caggiula played in three games for the Pittsburgh Penguins and scored one goal.
An unrestricted free agent signing this past offseason, Caggiula has a one-year, two-way contract that carries a salary cap hit of $750,000.
Poulin, 21, was the Penguins’ first-round pick (No. 21 overall in 2019) and has been recalled to the NHL roster for the first time in his career. Appearing in four AHL games this season, Poulin has one goal. During the preseason, Poulin played in three games for the Pittsburgh Penguins and recorded two assists.
In the second year of a three-year entry-level contract, Poulin carries a salary cap hit of $863,333.
Caggiula and Poulin were among the final cuts from the Penguins’ training camp roster earlier this month.