Poulin, Caggiula recalled with Blueger on LTIR

EDMONTON, Alberta -- Reinforcements are on the way.

The Penguins on Sunday recalled forwards Drake Caggiula and Sam Poulin from Wilkes-Barre/Scranton, giving the team 13 healthy forwards as Teddy Blueger and Jake Guentzel remain sidelined with injuries.

Poulin is still exempt from waivers, while Caggiula is waivers-eligible. Because Caggiula cleared waivers already this season, he can play 10 games or spend 30 days on the NHL roster (whichever comes first) without needing waivers to go back down to the AHL.

Because the Penguins only had roughly $83,000 in salary cap space on Sunday, Blueger was placed on long-term injured reserve, giving the Penguins $2.2 million in salary cap relief to use toward those reinforcements. Blueger's LTIR placement is retroactive to October 11. LTIR requires a player to be sidelined for 10 games and 24 days from the date of placement, which means that the earliest Blueger can return is Nov. 5 against the Kraken. Blueger skated with the team on Sunday's practice in Edmonton, though Mike Sullivan said afterward that his status still hasn't changed.

Guentzel has not yet been placed on injured reserve. That's not necessarily an indication of his status, but rather that the Penguins didn't need the extra roster spot that Guentzel going on IR would have provided. Sullivan said that there's a possibility that Guentzel plays on this road trip, which includes games in Edmonton on Monday, Calgary on Tuesday, Vancouver on Friday and Seattle on Saturday. Guentzel doesn't seem close to a return based on what we saw in Sunday's practice -- he came onto the ice late in the session in a non-contact jersey and didn't participate in any of the team drills. He stickhandled on his own at center ice while the rest of the team was working on special teams, and then he stayed out on the ice long after practice ended for more individual work.

At least for Monday's game against the Oilers, it looks like either Poulin or Caggiula will fill that opening at forward. Neither player had arrived in Edmonton in time for Sunday's practice after playing a game in Hartford on Saturday night, so there weren't any indications in the line combinations as to which of the two will slot into the lineup.

This is the first NHL recall for Poulin, who had an impressive training camp in a bottom-six center role. He has one goal in four games with Wilkes-Barre to start the AHL season, where he skated as second-line center. 

Caggiula spent the first four games of the AHL season on the left side of Wilkes-Barre's top line, where he recorded one assist. Those four games were the first he's played in the AHL in his entire seven-year professional career. 

"They're playing extremely well and they're deserving of the call up," Sullivan told me of the decision to recall both players on Sunday. "That's why they're on their way here right now."

If there's anything that might give an edge to Caggiula when making that decision, it could be his position. Both Caggiula and Poulin are versatile and have experience at both wing and center, but the coaching staff has been clear in preferring Poulin at center after he excelled after moving from wing to center last season. Caggiula was used exclusively as a left wing in training camp and has been skating as a left wing in the AHL. 

It would seem as if the opening is at fourth-line left wing. Brock McGinn started the season in that spot, with Ryan Poehling at center and Josh Archibald on the right wing. When Guentzel got hurt, Danton Heinen moved from the third line to the first line, and McGinn took Heinen's spot on the third line. Caggiula could slot in as fourth-line left wing and leave the remaining combinations intact.

I asked Sullivan what his observations were of Caggiula in training camp, and what he might bring to the lineup if he is the one who gets in.

"I thought he played really well," Sullivan said. "You know, he's another guy that can really skate. He'll bring speed to our lineup. I think he can be good on the forecheck. He's going to put defenseman under pressure, force turnovers, things of that nature. He has a conscience defensively, he's got some awareness, we could use him on the penalty kill. That's the type of role that I think Drake could play for us. I thought he had a strong camp for us. We had to make difficult (roster) decisions, and he was part of that process, but, we felt he had a strong camp."

We won't know for sure until Monday, but that sure sounds like the Penguins expect Caggiula to play.

MORE FROM PRACTICE

• The Penguins used these lines and pairings, unchanged from the game against Columbus with the exception of Blueger working with the fourth line:

Danton Heinen - Sidney Crosby - Rickard Rakell
Jason Zucker - Evgeni Malkin - Bryan Rust
Brock McGinn - Jeff Carter - Kasperi Kapanen
Teddy Blueger - Ryan Poehling - Josh Archibald

Brian Dumoulin - Kris Letang
Marcus Pettersson - Jeff Petry
P.O Joseph/Chad Ruhwedel - Jan Rutta

• The top power play unit has a different look without Guentzel. The Penguins went with two defenseman on the unit, with Jeff Petry joining Kris Letang, Sidney Crosby, Bryan Rust and Evgeni Malkin.

"When Jake went out we talked about the possibility of using two defenseman with Jeff Petry in that group," Sullivan said. "The reality is we have the ability to go to both (one defenseman or two). We'll see where it goes. But we wanted to explore it today in practice."

• Josh Archibald is set to play his former team tomorrow. Sullivan, reflecting on Archibald's growth since his first stint with the Penguins in 2017, called Archibald a "more polished version of himself."

"He's always been an energy guy, he's always been a guy that can really skate," Sullivan said. "He's always brought a physical dimension to the team. He has the ability to get under people's skin, so to speak. He's tough to play against. I think he's always had that aspect of his game. I just think he's a more mature player with all the experiences that he's gone through. He's got I don't know how many games NHL games under his belt right now, but it seems like yesterday he was playing in Wilkes-Barre. It's amazing how the years go by. But I just think he's just a more mature version of himself."

• I don't know which fan managed to dig this up yesterday, but a decade-old tweet of Heinen's was making the rounds on Twitter yesterday:

It was a heartwarming, full-circle moment, with Heinen now the linemate of Crosby 10 years after having that little fan moment -- or so everyone thought. I asked Heinen about that picture after practice, and he chuckled before saying, "Oh, that was just some random guy."

The tweet may have been a joke, but it was real that Heinen did grow up a Crosby fan.

"It's cool for sure," Heinen said of going from fan to linemate. "Whether you grow up a fan or not, you respect how good he is. I hope Jake's okay and back soon, but it's fun for sure."