CRANBERRY, Pa. — Had Riley Sheahan not been re-signed to a one-year, $2.1-million extension Wednesday, there's a very real chance that Teddy Blueger would have entered next season as the Penguins' fourth-line center.
But those inside the organization insist they would have been comfortable with that.
With Sheahan back in the fold, Blueger will probably start the season in Wilkes-Barre/Scranton but the likelihood of injury means that the the soon-to-be 24-year-old Latvian will almost certainly get a look at some point. Blueger was called up in February and spent two weeks in the NHL but never played.
Clark Donatelli, his coach at Wilkes-Barre, believes Blueger is ready to make the jump.
“Played every situation, can kill penalties, really good player,” the AHL coach said at the Penguins development camp. “Teddy can play games in the NHL. He made it up last year but didn’t get any games. But he’s got a fine future ahead of him. He’s ready to play.”
Over parts of three seasons in the AHL, the 2012 second rounder has 76 points (28 goals, 48 assists) in 134 games to go along with a plus-16 rating.
Tom Kostopolous was a little more effusive in his praise. The Penguins' new player development coach, whose playing career spanned 19 years and a combined 1,468 games in the NHL and AHL, says Blueger works as "hard as anyone I've ever played with."
"He's determined," Kostopolous told me. "You can trust him in any situation, offense, defense. He's a leader in the room even though he's very young. If he keeps working at it, which I'm sure he will, he'll be here very soon."
MORE PENGUINS
• While many were clamoring for Mike Sullivan to unleash Daniel Sprong on the Capitals during the Penguins’ failed run in the Stanley Cup playoffs, one person believes the organization’s top prospect was best served where he was: His coach. Donatelli says it was in Sprong’s best interests to watch and learn.
“I think in the long run, Daniel’s going to have a fine career because of the situation in Wilkes-Barre this year because he stayed down there and he played and he had some hard times and he persevered through it and grew as a pro,” Donatelli said. “I think if you asked him, from the time he came in, to the time he left, we lost our last game (to Charlotte in opening round of Calder Cup Playoffs), he’s a lot more confident as a whole hockey player.”
Sprong served as one of the Penguins’ black aces in the playoffs and was afforded a stall in the dressing room and even took part in a pre-game skate prior to Game 1, but did not get in the lineup.
After being sent down in January following an eight-game stint in Pittsburgh in which he scored two goals, Sprong improved his already through-the-roof stock with a strong second half in the AHL. He scored 11 goals in the last 15 games of his regular season and added one more in three playoff games.
Donatelli said all areas of his game picked up over the course of the AHL season, most notably his play away from the puck and in the defensive zone.
“We all know he can score a lot of goals and is going to score a lot of goals, but I think his 1-on-1 battles, his compete, his preparation on and off the ice, how he prepared himself and how he worked,” Donatelli said. “It was sort of a learning experience for him to go through that process. I think he’s going to have a really good year next year.”
The Penguins are certainly banking on Sprong, who figures to slot on the top line with Sidney Crosby and Jake Guentzel. Jim Rutherford has stated that Sprong will be a regular full-time in 2018-19. -- Bradford
• Only one player at development camp has his name on the Lemieux Sports Complex: Austin Lemieux. Having such a famous surname comes with great fanfare but the Arizona State freshman-to-be says he’s his own man.
"I just try to do my own thing,” said the 22-year-old veteran of three previous camps. “You have the ups and downs of being his son. It's great. I just try to be myself."
For pointers, he says he looks to his Hall of Fame father and Sidney Crosby, his former housemate. The Penguins' current captain is just eight years Austin’s senior.
After redshirting last season, the younger Lemieux is ready to resume his career in the desert.
“A great opportunity for me to play D-I, hopefully play at a high level early on in this stage of my career,” the sports management (go figure) major says. “Looking to be a top-line player there. I’m thinking I’m ready to go.” -- Bradford
• Andy Chiodo is putting aside a burgeoning career in the media to be the Penguins' new goaltender development coach. The 35-year-old had been making regular appearances on "Leafs Lunch" on TSN Radio in his native Toronto.
Chiodo played eight games for the Penguins in 2003-04, a team coached by Eddie Olczyk, who famously came out of the broadcast booth to go behind the bench. Although Olczyk later returned to broadcasting, Chiodo says that helping younger goalies is where he wants to be.
"I was doing all kinds of different things last year," he said. "Working in the media, I was working with our pro guys, working with an OHL team (Ottawa 67's) with young goaltenders as well. For me, it was just a good opportunity to get immersed in the game in all aspects. Where I want to be is where I am at right now." -- Bradford
• There is a method to Ty Hennes' madness after all.
Hennes was promoted Thursday to the Penguins' skating and skills development coach. If the name is vaguely familiar it's because he's run a few of the Penguins' practices in recent seasons in place of Mike Sullivan. Prior to joining the Lemieux Sports Complex staff, the 38-year-old has been a regional manager for the American Development Model, a USA Hockey initiative that stresses skills.
During the Penguins' skills sessions, usually two to three per season, the ice surface resembles an obstacle course more than a regulation rink. The idea is to improve skills while having a little fun because Sullivan says there's a fine line between "repetition and monotony."
"I was very fortunate to learn some new methodologies of individual skill development but now getting the chance to see it performed at a high level, it's pretty exciting, but also new to the players at this level," Hennes said. "It's a different approach to training." -- Bradford
PIRATES
• Corey Dickerson is receiving advice from a former Pirates first baseman. Justin Morneau, now retired and working in the Twins' front office, has given Dickerson tips on how to thrive in the second half of the season. The two have remained close since being teammates with the Rockies in 2014 and 2015.
Mourneau was hitting .235 on June 9, 2006 and hit .361 the rest of the season, earning the title of American League MVP. He accomplished that by focusing on pitch selection and has shared his secret with Dickerson, although the Pirates' left fielder declined to disclose what exactly that entails. -- Lance Lysowski in New York
• In his final game before landing on the disabled list, Francisco Cervelli switched to a hockey-style catcher's mask. After being struck in the jaw by a foul tip earlier this month, Cervelli was considering how he could get more protection behind the plate. So he asked Elias Diaz for the pros and cons of making the change. As Diaz recalled, he urged Cervelli to make the change. "More protection and still easy to see the ball," he said, knocking on his mask with a closed fist.
Cervelli used the mask against the Diamondbacks last week and complained to Diaz throughout the game that it was difficult to see out of. -- Lysowski
• A source told me Neal Huntington spent three days this week watching Triple-A Indianapolis play in Toledo to gauge the major-league readiness of a few players on the roster, including Kevin Newman. Such trips are routine for this front office – Kyle Stark visited with players in Columbus only one week earlier — but the Pirates are starting to take a long look at who can take the next step. Read into that what you will. -- Lysowski
STEELERS
• The Steelers aren't going to feel too sorry for Tampa Bay, which finally got the official news that quarterback Jameis Winston will be suspended for the first three weeks of the season, including a game against Pittsburgh in Week 3. The Steelers, after all, were forced to go into the 2010 season with Ben Roethlisberger suspended for the first six games of the season -- with no official charges filed -- for off-field behavior. In fact, some in the organization find it a little strange Roethlisberger was given a six-game suspension -- later reduced to four -- when Winston got half that amount for basically the same thing. Remember, this isn't Winston's first brush with a sexual assault issue. He reached a settlement with a woman in 2016 who had accused him of rape while at Florida State. And this time he was accused of touching a ride-share driver sexually without her permission. This is where the league gets itself into trouble. When it plays judge and jury and comes out with different punishments for similar issues, it ruins its credibility. -- Dale Lolley
• Things will start to heat up with the Le'Veon Bell talks. But please don't ask me what percentage I'd put on it happening. Nobody knows for sure what's going to happen. After all, as I previously mentioned, Bell's agent, Adisa Bakari, had a deal he thought his client would accept last year -- five years, $60 million -- but Bell balked at the guaranteed money. There are really no absolutes here. But if Bell thinks the two sides are close, as he said earlier this week, they're close. -- Lolley
• The Steelers also will look at long-term deals in the first week or so of training camp for Chris Boswell, Anthony Chickillo and Vince Williams. They've had some talks with Ramon Foster, but that could be a situation where they don't want to offend a veteran leader. Foster is 32 and B.J. Finney is waiting in the wings. That doesn't mean something couldn't happen with Foster, but he would have to take a hometown discount on a two- or three-year extension that wouldn't necessarily be for starter's money in the future. -- Lolley
HOUNDS
• The Hounds sitting in second place this late into a season is a sight that hasn’t been seen since 2004, and that was the year the Hounds first dropped to U.S. Soccer’s third-tier league and played in a three-team division. As a second-tier team (The USL officially became the country’s second division last year), the Hounds’ best record was 15-9-4 in 2003, when they were led by A-League MVP Thiago Martins but missed the playoffs by two points behind — who else? — the Rochester Raging Rhinos. Coincidentally, the Rhinos scored a first-round upset in the playoffs that season by winning over two legs against the Montreal Impact, who were led by that season’s Coach of the Year, Bob Lilley. — Matt Grubba
PITT
• The search is on for a new baseball coach for the Panthers after the surprising departure of Joe Jordano after 21 seasons. Heather Lyke has leaned toward high-profile assistants from top programs in many of her hires — even before Jeff Capel and Lance White, gymnastics coach Samantha Snider and wrestling coach Keith Gavin fit that bill — but Pitt also has a strong in-house candidate in pitching coach Jerry Oakes. Pitching has been the strength of the Panthers in recent years, including 2016 first-round draft pick T.J. Zeuch and four pitchers taken in this year’s MLB Draft, and Jordano often gave Oakes much of the credit for recruiting and coaching those arms. With another strong recruiting class coming in, perhaps Oakes will get some consideration. — Grubba
DUQUESNE
• Much has been made about the size of the Dukes’ men’s basketball recruiting class for 2018, and a recently published team graphic shows seven of the Dukes’ newcomers (including a couple of transfers who sat out last year) demonstrating their wingspans of 7 feet or longer. But looking at just the Class of 2018 recruits, the Dukes' recruits are more than just big bodies. According to 247Sports, Duquesne’s class ranks 104th nationally and seventh in the Atlantic 10, though that might be underrating them because some of their incoming players don’t have star ratings from the recruiting service. Among the teams behind the Dukes in 247Sports’ rating are Marquette, Tennessee, UConn and Florida State. — Grubba
