Dylan Blujus
Dylan Blujus | |
|---|---|
| Born | January 22, 1994 United States |
| Occupation(s) | Ice hockey defenseman (retired), ice hockey linesperson |
| Years active | –2023 (player) |
| Known for | Professional ice hockey defenseman in AHL and ECHL |
Dylan Blujus (born January 22, 1994) is a retired American professional ice hockey defenseman who currently works as a linesperson in the American Hockey League.
Playing career
Blujus launched his major junior hockey tenure with the Brampton Battalion competing in the Ontario Hockey League (OHL). Following his sophomore campaign in 2011–12, where he tallied 7 goals and 34 points across 66 contests, he was selected 40th overall by the Tampa Bay Lightning during the 2012 NHL Entry Draft.
In his concluding junior year (2013–14), after the Battalion franchise relocated to North Bay, Blujus amassed 30 points in 50 games and added 10 points over 22 playoff matches as the squad advanced to the OHL championship series. On May 22, 2014, he inked a three-year entry-level deal with Tampa Bay.
Throughout this contract period, Blujus mainly appeared for Tampa Bay’s AHL affiliate, the Syracuse Crunch. The 2016–17 season saw him limited to 28 games due to injury, and unable to climb Tampa Bay’s organizational depth chart, he entered free agency after not receiving a qualifying offer.
Without a contract during the offseason, Blujus commenced the 2017–18 season with the ECHL's Jacksonville Icemen, registering 7 points in 21 outings before securing a professional tryout agreement with the AHL's Utica Comets, affiliated with the Vancouver Canucks, on December 13, 2017. After contributing 8 points in 14 appearances, he earned an AHL contract for the remainder of that season and subsequently signed a one-year extension on June 7, 2018.
During the 2018–19 campaign, Blujus provided experienced depth by totaling 8 points over 43 games and agreed to another one-year deal with Utica on June 17, 2019.
As a free agent amid the pandemic-delayed 2020–21 season, Blujus signed a one-year contract with the Rochester Americans on January 18, 2021, contributing 2 points in 21 contests.
On September 17, 2021, he joined the Milwaukee Admirals under a one-year AHL contract. In the following season (2021–22), Blujus appeared in 43 regular-season games tallying 11 points; he also had a short loan stint with the ECHL's Florida Everblades before returning for seven postseason matches.
After completing his tenure with Milwaukee as a free agent, Blujus rejoined Utica on July 18, 2022. He featured in 19 games during the 2022–23 season prior to being traded to the Belleville Senators for future considerations on March 10, 2023.
Career statistics
| 2019–20 AHL season | Utica Comets | AHL | 35 | 4 | 5 | 9 | 26 | — | — | — | — | — | - | 2020–21 AHL season | Rochester Americans | AHL | 21 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 14 | — | — | — | — | — |- bgcolor="#f0f0f0" | 2021–22 AHL season | Milwaukee Admirals | AHL | 43 | 1 | 10 | 11 | 30 | 7 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 12 | - | 2021–22 ECHL season | Florida Everblades | ECHL | 6 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 10 | — | — | — | — | — |- bgcolor="#f0f0f0" | 2022–23 AHL season | Utica Comets | AHL | 19 | 1 | 4 | 5 | 14 | — | — | — | — | — |-| Regular season | Playoffs | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Season | Team | League | GP | G | A | Pts | PIM | GP | G | A | Pts | PIM | |||||||||||||
| 2009–10 | Buffalo Regals | T1EHL | 48 | 5 | 17 | 22 | 36 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |||||||||||||
| 2010–11 | Brampton Battalion | OHL | 67 | 4 | 22 | 26 | 26 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |||||||||||||
| 2011–12 | Brampton Battalion | OHL | 66 | 7 | 27 | 34 | 38 | 8 | 1 | 4 | 5 | 4 | |||||||||||||
| 2012–13 | Brampton Battalion | OHL | 68 | 2 | 27 | 29 | 57 | 5 | 2 | 2 | 4 | ||||||||||||||
| 2013–14 | North Bay Battalion | OHL | 55 | 4 | 26 | 30 | 56 | 22 | 4 | 6 | 10 | 20 | |||||||||||||
| 2014–15 | Syracuse Crunch | AHL | 67 | 4 | 18 | 22 | 18 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 4 | |||||||||||||
| 2015–16 | Syracuse Crunch | AHL | 61 | 6 | 13 | 19 | 33 | — | — | — | — | - bgcolor="#f0f0f0" | 2016–17 | Syracuse Crunch | AHL | 23 | 1 | 7 | 8 | 16 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 |
| 2017–18 | Jacksonville Icemen | ECHL | 21 | 1 | 6 | 7 | 20 | — | — | — | — | - bgcolor="#f0f0f0" | 2017–18 | Utica Comets | AHL | 45 | 4 | 12 | 16 | 24 | 5 | 0 | 2 | 2 | 8 |
| 2018–19 | Utica Comets | AHL | 43 | 1 | 7 | 8
| 41 | | |||||||||||||||||||
| AHL totals | 362 | 23 | 77 | 100 | 218 | 16 | 0 | 2 | 2 | 26 | |||||||||||||||