Pittsburgh Penguins Activate Bryan Rust

The Pittsburgh Penguins will have a quality middle-six forward back in the lineup this evening. According to a team announcement, the Penguins have activated forward Bryan Rust off the injured reserve.

Rust has been working his way back from an upper-body injury. He suffered the injury in the Penguins’ preseason finale against the Buffalo Sabres, and he was originally given a week-to-week recovery timeline. Rust will return to the lineup after missing only 11 days.

The 12-year veteran will give Pittsburgh more offensive firepower, at the very least. Still, the Penguins haven’t had any offensive concerns thus far. They have gotten off to a decent start, winning two of their first three games, while scoring 15 goals and four powerplay tallies in 10 opportunities.

Regardless, you can never have too much offense. Despite some injury concerns, Rust has been remarkably consistent for the Penguins over the last seven years and is coming off one of his best seasons. Helping Pittsburgh back into the postseason, Rust scored 29 goals and 65 points in 72 games with a net-zero rating, averaging 19:57 of ice time per game. A year earlier, Rust registered 31 goals and 65 points in 71 games with a -21 rating, averaging 19:45 of ice time per game.

Because he is returning from injury, Rust isn’t expected to start in Pittsburgh’s top six. Based on line rushes at practice this morning, Rust is set to play the right wing next to Ville Koivunen and Benjamin Kindel tonight against the Washington Capitals.

Even though a corresponding roster move was expected, it’s no longer necessary. Earlier today, the Penguins traded Filip Hallander to the Edmonton Oilers in exchange for Spencer Stastney. Although this didn’t alleviate the roster issue, it opened up a spot in Pittsburgh’s forward corps for Rust.

Additionally, Tom Gulliti of the NHL reported that the league has granted Andrei Kuzmenko non-roster status for tonight’s Metro Division contest. In late September, following the tragic loss of his father, Kuzmenko took a leave of absence from the Penguins. He has returned for two games this season.