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Veteran Center Teddy Blueger Joins Maple Leafs on $5 Million Deal, Bypassing Rangers
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Key Points
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Rangers enter free agency with just under $16 million in projected cap space, shaping how aggressively they pursue a bottom-six center like Teddy Blueger.
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Blueger and Alberts Šmits are both Latvian and competed together in the 2026 Milan Olympics, suggesting added chemistry and a smoother transition for the rookie prospect into North American hockey.
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Industry ranking places Blueger as the 42nd-best unrestricted free agent and the fifth-best center, with notes on his skating speed and defensive reliability shaping his market value.
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Vancouver Canucks' new GM Ryan Johnson indicated a roster reset is underway and suggested he’s not inclined to bring Blueger back, signaling a broader turnover on Vancouver’s roster.
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Blueger’s Maple Leafs deal is two years at $2.5 million per season ($5 million total); the Leafs also moved to add other veterans such as Luke Schenn and Paul Cotter on the same day.
Teddy Blueger is heading to Toronto. The 31-year-old two-way center signed a two-year, $5 million deal with the Maple Leafs on July 1, the first day of NHL free agency, according to Daily Faceoff. The contract carries an annual average value of $2.5 million, plus a $500,000 signing bonus.
The signing stunned the New York Rangers, who had been considered the frontrunners for Blueger's services. Toronto swooped in and closed the deal by early afternoon, then added veterans Luke Schenn and Paul Cotter the same day, per Maple Leafs PR.
Toronto Outbids Rangers to Land Defensive Specialist
The Rangers entered free agency with roughly $15.8 million in cap space and had made Blueger their top target for the 3C or 4C role, according to ESPN. General manager Chris Drury reportedly wanted Blueger to mentor Latvian prospect Alberts Šmits. The Rangers were "disappointed" to miss out, per NY Post, with columnist Larry Brooks calling it a "strategic failure" to spend that much cap space and still lose your primary target.
Toronto GM Brad Treliving won the race by offering two years of security. Sportsnet's Elliotte Friedman noted that "while the Rangers were looking at Blueger as a one-year mentor, the Leafs offered a two-year window that provides Blueger with stability." Treliving called Blueger a player with a "playoff-hardened mentality" and the "defensive responsibility" his bottom six needed, per Toronto Sun.
Blueger's Numbers Make the $2.5M Deal Look Like Value
Blueger put up 17 points — 9 goals and 8 assists — in just 35 games for Vancouver last season. A lower-body injury in December cut his year short. The season before, he was healthy all year, playing all 82 games and recording 33 points. Daily Faceoff ranked him the 42nd-best unrestricted free agent overall and the fifth-best center available in the 2026 class.
Analysts at The Athletic pointed out that Blueger's defensive metrics remain strong. His Expected Goals Against per 60 minutes ranks in the top 15% of all NHL forwards. His faceoff win rate sits at 54%, a number that directly addresses one of Toronto's weaknesses. The Leafs' penalty kill ranked 22nd in the league last season, per The Athletic.
Vancouver's Roster Reset Pushed Blueger Out the Door
The Canucks limited Blueger to 35 games last season due to injury. New GM Ryan Johnson held a press conference on June 15 where he announced a full "roster reset." Johnson praised Blueger as a "consummate professional" but made clear the team was moving toward younger, cheaper players, per The Athletic Vancouver.
Vancouver-based outlets framed the departure as low risk for the Canucks. The Vancouver Sun argued that paying $2.5 million per year for a 31-year-old who missed 60% of last season is a bet a rebuilding team should avoid. Toronto media disagreed. Sporting News noted Blueger brings the same qualities the Leafs valued in Colton Sissons — a hard-working, defensively sound center who fits well in a bottom-six role.
Rangers' Šmits Loses His Would-Be Latvian Mentor
Blueger and prospect Alberts Šmits both played for Latvia at the 2026 Milan Winter Olympics in February. The two showed strong chemistry on the penalty kill, drawing NHL scouts' attention, per The Leafs Nation. New York had hoped that shared nationality and ice time would help the 20-year-old Šmits adjust to North American pro hockey.
Without Blueger, the Rangers may choose to start Šmits in the AHL with Hartford rather than the NHL, potentially slowing his development. New York must now chase secondary targets like Nic Dowd or Radek Faksa — moves that could come at inflated prices as the center market tightens, according to Daily Faceoff.
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