Penguins winger Bryan Rust will be sidelined for the start of the regular season after sustaining an undisclosed injury in practice on Wednesday, per Seth Rorabaugh of the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review. He’ll miss at least two weeks, with his earliest return date set for Oct. 16 against the Kings. That’s a minimum absence of four games. He will be eligible for an injured reserve placement when opening night rosters are due.
Any trade talks that may still be ongoing for the top-six forward will now take a brief pause. Coming off the first 30-goal, 60-point season of his career, the 33-year-old Rust was in trade rumors all offseason long as the Penguins descended deeper into rebuild territory. Like fellow trade candidates Erik Karlsson and Rickard Rakell, though, he’ll be remaining with the organization to begin the regular season.
With on-ice expectations for the Penguins quite low this season, at least externally, the primary impact of Rust’s absence lies not with his missing offense, but with Pittsburgh’s opening night roster composition. Stashing Rust on IR for a week or two will allow general manager Kyle Dubas to punt some tough decisions for the final few roster spots down the road. The club has multiple young talents at both forward and defense looking to break camp, and leaving Rust off the 23-man limit will make life easier for some of them.
In fact, Rust’s injury could be the final straw for the Pens to decide to give No. 11 overall pick Benjamin Kindel a nine-game trial before returning him to WHL Calgary. Some viewed the 5’11” winger as a reach on draft day in June, but he’s averaged over 17 minutes per game in five preseason contests while registering a goal and an assist. If not him, Rust’s absence could be a pathway for a name like Filip Hallander or Samuel Poulin to avoid waivers, at least for a few extra days.
Still, Rust’s injury brings the Penguins to three forwards on IR to begin the season who would otherwise be opening-night likelies or locks. Veteran Kevin Hayes was shut down at the beginning of camp and isn’t expected back until late October, while top prospect Rutger McGroarty is out indefinitely with an upper-body issue.
Starting his injuries early this year
Team practices must be much harder than they used to be.