Seven of the Pittsburgh Penguins’ top 12 minor-league prospects heading into the 2015-16 season ended up spending substantial time in the NHL this past year. The young players were undoubtedly a key component to Pittsburgh’s Stanley Cup victory, but this coming fall, the Penguins will have to look to new young blood to help replenish the farm system.

Pittsburgh is counting on 21-year-old center Teddy Blueger to be one of their new budding stars at Wilkes-Barre in the AHL.

The Penguins drafted Blueger in the second round back in 2012, but the Latvian forward did not sign a contract with Pittsburgh until this past March. He’s played the last four seasons in the NCAA at Minnesota State. In 155 games, Blueger scored 31 goals and 108 points. His senior season was his most prolific in school, as he scored 10 goals and 28 points with a plus-9 rating in 37 contests.

It’s obviously too early to make any solid NHL prediction for the young center, but Pittsburgh was fortunate to be able to retain him in its organization. If Blueger hadn’t agreed to a deal with the Penguins this spring, then he would have been an unrestricted free agent on July 1.

After signing in March, he joined the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins, but largely disappointed from a scoring standpoint. He had no goals and just one assist in 20 games, including the postseason.

It was disappointing, but all things considered, he and the Penguins shouldn’t dwell on it too much. Firstly, it’s a small sample size, so it’s hard to really take anything away from it. Plus, Blueger was not only transitioning into a new league where everyone was bigger, faster and stronger, but his overall life had been altered since he just came from school.

That’s a lot of change at the same time for a young player. He’s still very much learning how to be a pro.

But, the fastest way to the NHL for him is probably not by scoring anyway.

Blueger plays with a great deal of physical flair, going to the dirty areas and getting to lose pucks in the corners. The skinny on him at Hockey’s Future also says he is very good in the faceoff circle.

He has a very high hockey IQ, but despite his physicality, scouts have said Blueger would benefit from putting on some additional weight. The 21-year-old is 6-foot and weighs about 185 pounds.

The deal he signed with the Penguins was a two-year entry-level contract. In all likelihood, Pittsburgh would like him to play both seasons in the AHL to continue seasoning. Based on his early AHL statistics and the fact he is still very much developing into a pro, he clearly could use some work.

But as Penguins fans have learned over the years, teams are sometimes forced to use young players before they would like because of injuries. At one point in February, the Penguins were missing three centers, Evgeni Malkin, Nick Bonino and Eric Fehr at the same time. That pushed Matt Cullen into a second-line role and veteran journeyman Kevin Porter and youngster Oskar Sundqvist into starting roles.

If injuries hit the center position that badly again for Pittsburgh in 2016-17, Blueger could be called into service at the NHL level, especially if Cullen doesn’t return.

That wouldn’t be ideal, but because Blueger has a physical edge and is good in the faceoff circle, it wouldn’t be a complete disaster if he had to play for a short period of time. He could play a fourth-line role, skate about 10 minutes per game and bring energy.

Blueger is certainly not Pittsburgh’s most flashy prospect — that would be Daniel Sprong — but Blueger is hard-working and skilled enough to be someone worth watching in the Penguins organization.