The Penguins have recalled forward Joseph Blandisi from Wilkes-Barre/Scranton on an emergency basis, Jim Rutherford announced Monday.
The emergency recall designation is due to Zach Aston-Reese's injury in the second period of Sunday's win over the Bruins. Because it is an emergency recall, Blandisi does not count towards the standard recall limit of four that takes effect following the trade deadline. Per emergency recall rules, he must be re-assigned to Wilkes-Barre when he is no longer needed.
Blandisi, 24, has seven goals and eight assists in 17 games with Wilkes-Barre since being acquired from the Ducks in the Derek Grant trade.
Blandisi, 6-feet and 185 pounds, played in one game with Pittsburgh following the trade, the Jan. 18 game in Arizona. He played 6:47, recording two shots. The game was one of Blandisi's 75 career NHL games. He appeared in 68 games with the Devils and six with the Ducks since turning pro in 2015-16.
Here's a film breakdown on Blandisi's time in the NHL before joining the Penguins, and here's a feature I did after speaking to Blandisi last month.
“I think I can agitate a little bit, get under the skin of the opponent,” Blandisi told me of his game.
The Penguins could probably use some of that on Tuesday.
In a subsequent move, Wilkes-Barre recalled Trevor Yates from Wheeling. Yates has 14 points in 14 games since being acquired from Grand Rapids in a trade this season. I interviewed Yates for a feature just before the trade was announced, so stay tuned for that tomorrow.
TAYLOR'S VIEW
Yeah, no surprises here. A couple of people asked me who the next forward up would be, and with Jean-Sebastien Dea gone, it has to be Blandisi.
Adam Johnson is still so slender and just not ready to take the next step yet. Thomas Di Pauli is hurt. Jimmy Hayes has been having a rough year. Anthony Angello would have been my next pick, but he's plateaued a bit as the season has gone on and doesn't have the NHL experience that Blandisi does.