Penguins’ Bryan Rust Out Six Weeks, Rutger McGroarty And Chase Pietila Recalled

This morning the Pittsburgh Penguins announced that forward Bryan Rust has been placed on injured reserve, while Rutger McGroarty and Chase Pietila have been recalled from AHL Wilkes-Barre/Scranton. Rust lands on the shelf along with Benjamin Kindel , who will also miss time due to his hospitalization from collapsing during the team’s flight.

It won’t be a short-term absence for Rust, as he’ll be evaluated in six weeks, Josh Yohe, team beat writer, reported . The ailment is reportedly lower-body, as Rust exited Monday’s loss to Utah for the third period and didn’t return. The 34-year-old is sixth in team scoring despite already missing a few games, with three goals and five points in seven appearances.

He has made the most of a top-line role alongside Sidney Crosby . Rust had dealt with an upper-body injury from the preseason, unrelated to the latest issue here today. Losers of four in a row, 27th in the league with a 3-6-1 record, there was a lot at stake for Pittsburgh this season and so far things haven’t gone to plan.

Losing two top six forwards in Rust and Kindel only makes it harder as they march ahead. Even if climbing the mountain and winning their fourth Stanley Cup of the Crosby era was never a real possibility, maintaining their playoff contending status one more time for the trio of Crosby, Evgeni Malkin , and Kris Letang was always the goal.

Rust can certainly count into that upper echelon as well, drafted by the club 16 years ago and 717 games into his tenure. If things continue the way they have so far, the legendary trio will stay put in the Steel City for as long as they wish, but it’s players like Rust who the team may be forced to move on from as they turn things over to their youth.

It was reported just two days ago that both he and Rickard Rakell are on the market. There is no telling how serious any trade talks have gone with the Michigan native, but now all of that can be put on hold until early December as he looks to heal up. Based on the timeline the Penguins are looking at around 18 games without Rust available.

Taking on Florida at home tonight, Pittsburgh turns to Thomas Novak who will be elevated into a top line winger role. Their 10th ranked offense hasn’t translated to wins yet, but general manager Kyle Dubas deepened the forward group, perhaps to a fault , and now is the time where the team can benefit.

Ville Koivunen ’ s offense hasn’t taken off yet early into his shocking eight-year extension, but the 23-year-old is another name to watch to step up in the games ahead. They’ve also turned to outside help among their forwards, summoning 22-year-old McGroarty. The winger had been tied with Avery Hayes for team lead with nine points in six games.

He won’t be expected to play tonight, but having to start in the AHL due to the logjam on the big club, the power forward should get a real look in the top nine. At this point McGroarty has been a useful player in the NHL with strong five-on-five possession metrics on sheltered zone starts.

The power forward has yet to translate it into the level of offense which led to his name being called 14th overall in the 2022 draft though, as he has nine points in 32 games. As for Pietila, the 22-year-old will hope to make his NHL debut at some point. Chosen in the fourth round two years ago, the former USHL champion is a bruiser at 6’2′′ who produced 85 penalty minutes with the “Baby Penguins” last year.

A native of Howell, Michigan the righty spent nine games with the ECHL’s Wheeling Nailers last season, their former affiliate known for sending several unheralded prospects to Pittsburgh. For now, he’ll be a depth option, as Ilya Solovyov is expected to take on the third pairing while recent acquisition Spencer Stastney is set to play alongside #1 and top scorer Erik Karlsson .