Pittsburgh Penguins place Bryan Rust on injured reserve

Rust has had a strong bounceback season with 10 goals and 10 assists for 20 points in 22 games this year. The 31-year-old ranks fifth among Penguins skaters. He’s been one of the more efficient goal scorers in the league in the past few seasons, with his 0.83 5v5 goals per 60 minutes ranking 39th in the league among forwards with at least 3000 minutes of ice time.

Rust was a third-round, No. 80 overall pick of the Penguins in the 2010 NHL Draft, and after making his debut in the 2014-15 season, he’s spent the entirety of his 10-season NHL career with the Pens. He won back-to-back Stanley Cup Championships with the Penguins in 2016 and 2017. He’s currently in the second year of a six-year deal with a $5.125 million cap hit that he signed with the Penguins in the 2022 offseason.

Meanwhile, the Penguins also announced that defenseman Chad Ruhwedel has been activated from the injured reserve. Ruhwedel was week-to-week with a lower-body injury he sustained against the Vegas Golden Knights. The 33-year-old has one point in 15 games this season.

The Penguins are set to take on the Toronto Maple Leafs tonight, and will then play the Minnesota Wild on Monday and the Carolina Hurricanes on Thursday. Pittsburgh currently sits seventh in the Metropolitan Division with a 13-12-3 record and 29 points through 28 games.