Quoting: AFOX10900
Blueger didn't play more than like 3-4 games as a 2/3C last year... He played well on the 4th line I don't get moving him up, and Adam Johnson>Angelo in my (very biased) opinion
He has constantly held his own against high level competition. His play on the international stage has shown he's ready for a larger role. They can't deny that at this point, they been holding him back in wbs for years.
Like I said, they made the mistake with Sundqvist, and that turned out to be awful move for the team. They need to avoid that here. If you watched him last year, you know he's way to talented to be on the 4th line. If you look at their 5v5 stats last year, not only does it not justify a 4 million salary over Blueger, but they are very close to being even. Bluegers stats are a little lower, but he got mostly 4th line minutes last year.
On top of it, he's a much faster player than Jugs. This is a team that want's to play with speed.
You add on top of it the need for cap space and this makes too much sense.
I like Jugs, I think he's a good player. But I think they do more damage holding Blueger back for him. Especially when you got another large body center to play the 4C and Nikita coming into the organization next year who should be given a long look at 4C as well.
You got to improve where you can, and I think this is how you get there.