With there being plenty of speculation about the Penguins trying to make their roster younger for the upcoming season, a veteran winger is being eyed by other teams. Josh Yohe of The Athletic reports (subscription link) that teams are calling to gauge the potential availability of veteran winger Bryan Rust.
The 33-year-old is coming of a career year after putting up 31 goals and 34 assists this season despite missing 11 games due to injuries and illness. That came on the heels of him matching his previous career best in points the year before when he only played in 62 games. Suffice it to say, Rust has gone from being more of a role player at the beginning of his career to a trusted top-six option in recent seasons, making it very understandable that he’s attracting interest.
While his recent performance is certainly fueling that, so too is his contract. Rust has three years left on his current contract with a $5.125MM cap hit. In a cap environment that’s going to see the Upper Limit increase considerably over the next several years, inflating salaries along the way, his deal increasingly becomes more of a bargain.
A long-time linemate of Sidney Crosby, it’s likely that GM Kyle Dubas would prefer to keep Rust in the fold. While there’s a stated desire to get younger, there doesn’t seem to be any indication that they’re looking to go into more of a full rebuild, meaning that their top veterans aren’t likely to be made available.
It’s also worth noting that Rust currently has a no-move clause for a few more weeks although that protection lapses on July 1st. Accordingly, if a move were to be made with Dubas receiving an offer that was simply too good to refuse, it might have to wait until the start of the new league year for it to be made official. And if the free agent market proves to be as lucrative as many expect, Rust’s trade value and Dubas’ asking price will only be going up from there.
Put both Rakell and Rust on the market at 125% of their value and see if anyone bites.
If not, you keep them and ice a great top line, even during a rebuild.
If so, play McGroarty and Koivunen with Sid and add to the asset pile.
They had career years time to trade now as I doubt they repeat and pens won’t be competing next season even if they sign 3 of the top 5 FA
As much as Rust is one of the hearts of the team, you’ve got to trade him now and get max value. He’s not going to be more than a 3rd liner by the time the Pens are ready to compete in a couple years
In a couple of years they won’t be ready to compete. They’ll be picking in the top 5.
The next year that we have a Lemieux or Crosby coming out will be the year they “win” the lottery.
I hope you’re right, Gavin McKenna would do. I’ll text Gary now and see what he says.
I think the Pens move either rust or rakell but not both this off season. I think Rakell will fetch the biggest return.