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Dan Muse could've unlocked Matej Blumel but the Penguins blew it

A very realistic free-agent target for the Penguins ended up signing a very respectable deal in Boston and it was a massive miss for the Penguins.
ByTyler Miller|
Jan 19, 2025; Dallas, Texas, USA; Dallas Stars right wing Matej Blumel (25) skates against the Detroit Red Wings during the second period at the American Airlines Center. Mandatory Credit: Jerome Miron-Imagn Images
Jan 19, 2025; Dallas, Texas, USA; Dallas Stars right wing Matej Blumel (25) skates against the Detroit Red Wings during the second period at the American Airlines Center. Mandatory Credit: Jerome Miron-Imagn Images | Jerome Miron-Imagn Images

It is not every day when you can find a 25-year-old AHL player who put up a ton of points and got a few NHL games under his belt, in the unrestricted free agent pool on July 1. But that was the case for Matej Blumel who put up over 70 points for the Texas Stars in the AHL this past year and was a UFA.

The Bruins scooped him up on a one-year 875K one-way deal and added him to their roster. Lots of Penguins fans wanted Blumel here in Pittsburgh as new head coach Dan Muse does well with developing young players.

That contract also was super cheap and is a swing-and-a-miss for the Penguins organization as a whole and Dan Muse.

Blumel would have had massive potential in Pittsburgh

With the Penguins being under a rebuild and wanting to play the young kids, it would have been a no-brainer to sign Blumel to a short-term deal and see what he could do.

The Penguins are already kickstarting their rebuild and giving youngsters Rutger McGroarty and Ville Koivunen full-time roles after they got to play with the Penguins in the last few games of the previous season.

This would have been the case for Blumel as he would have earned a full-time role and gotten a chance to prove himself. He would have played likely top 6 minutes and gotten a chance to showcase what skills he had.

Blumel is exactly the type of player Kyle Dubas was talking about signing

For a while now general manager Kyle Dubas said in press conferences and to the media that he wanted to sign or trade for young NHL players or young close to NHL ready players that did not get a chance on other teams.

Blumel fits this description perfectly as he did not really get much of a chance with the Dallas Stars as he was blocked by the likes of Jason Robertson and Mikko Rantanen among others.

It is a massive shame that the Penguins could not give Blumel what the Bruins did as Blumel would have fit perfectly for the Penguins now and in their future.

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