Goodbye, Blandisi… Hello, Elite 1 C!
Arguably the biggest trade of the season was the re-acquisition of Derek Grant. We traded Joseph Blandisi, who spent most of his season with the San Diego Gulls. Blandisi only played 3 games with the Ducks before heading down to the AHL. He performed really well with the Gulls putting up 23 points (8G, 15A) in 27 games.
He suffered a similar fate to Kloos, only playing one game with the Penguins before being relegated to the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins. There he has been pretty good, delivering 10 points (5G, 5A).
We originally let Derek Grant walk and Pittsburgh picked him up. He played 25 games for the Penguins getting 5 points (2G, 3A) in that span. He was also on the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins for a short time getting 4 points (3G, 1A) in 5 games. Of course, Bob Murray realized the error of his ways by reacquiring the Elite center.
Since his return, he’s put up 5 points (2G, 3A) in 16 games. He most recently assisted on Troy Terry‘s second career goal in the recent loss to the Chicago Blackhawks. The “Elite one” was brought back a little too late in the season but he could serve well as a 3rd or 4th line center down the line. Obviously, this trade is a major win because of Derek Grant but the Penguins gained a good player in Blandisi.