Bryan Rust Trade Could Come At Later Date Than Other Trade Candidates

The Pittsburgh Penguins are very close to making a whole lot more trades as they recently blew another lead, are three games under .500, and have just seven wins through 21 games on the outside of the playoffs looking in.

The first domino fell when the Penguins traded Lars Eller back to the Washington Capitals after an embarrassing defeat. Since then, Pittsburgh lost to the struggling Detroit Red Wings, the not so good Columbus Blue Jackets, the Tampa Bay Lightning, and barely squeaked by the San Jose Sharks in a shootout after blowing a lead.

Bryan Rust should generate interest on the trade market, but the term on his deal makes him less likely to be moved than a number of other Penguins this season. It has been said that he could instead become a trade candidate for the Penguins next offseason.

Rust is in the third year of a six-year deal at $5.125 million AAV. Considering he is a certified top-6 winger, can log around 19 minutes per game, and not only recorded 20+ goals in five consecutive seasons, but produced 50+ points in three of those, he is well worth all the money he is being paid per season.

Especially in the offseason when teams are shuffling pieces around, there are those who would rather bring in a player with term who could help out for more than just one season. We've started to see this a bit more at the trade deadline where a team acquires a player for a bit more and that contender has him for two playoffs runs or so.

Rust is a talented veteran who has five goals and seven points in 14 games this season on the struggling Penguins. Whoever may acquire him would have him for three seasons, but I wonder if there's a 20% cap retention because of the term. After this season, Pittsburgh will have all three of their cap retention spots available to use, so it only makes sense to get a big more in return and open up the availability to more teams by retaining cap on Rust.