Nope he’s locked in

I said he won’t be an 80 point winger like this year. I’m not comparing him to nylander lol. But he’ll be a good 50-60 point guy

I bet he has maybe 1 year of 20+ goals and maybe 40+ points before he slides back down the depth chart and becomes a 30 point winger. I just hope for your sake it doesn't happen on his contract year. Rust is one of those guys that is just a depth guy, nothing more and this year was a total mirage. I am not saying he is bad, he's totally a guy you want around but only if he has a fair deal. If he was FA right now? Someone would give him 5+ million over 5 years thinking it's a good contract and he'll fall apart.

Pretty much every year he’s on pace for over 20 goals if he was healthy. Like I said, I agree he’ll come back to earth. But he’s not a “bottom 6 forward”. He’s 100% worthy of a top 6 role. He’s good for 20+ goals and 50 points.

Pretty much every season he's on pace for 20 and has 1 20 goal season where he shot 5 percent better than he ever has and was a full 8 percent better than his average. He is a 15 goal 30 point winger and got extra ice time and really lucky this year to pad the stats. He's 28, he's not coming into his own. This is the mistake so many people make over and over again. Emotions are ruling your assessment.

Dude he’s not a 15 goal 30 point winger. If he’s on pace for over 20 goals I will count that as a 20+ goal winger. His peak is 20+ goals and 50-60 points realistically. I don’t know how you don’t see this. Rust is a good player. He’s not a “3rd line winger”

Being a 3rd line winger is great. I don't get why fans get so upset when they are told depth players are depth players. Honestly I don't think there is much difference between rust and Mikheyev. Soupman is younger, cheaper and fits so well in TO. I like him better, the difference in ability is close. Both are depth players and that is fine

Yet rust has put up better numbers and has been great in playoffs. If you “prefer” Soup that’s fine... but rust is a clear cut better player and people on this website will tell you that. PPG winger this year. Even if he doesn’t repeat it, he’s still gonna be a 50-60 point guy.

Again you are talking about the difference between two Honda Civics. A very reliable vehicle sure but one being red and the other blue doesn't make one better than the other. It's entirely emotions that is driving you. And talking up a depth guy like he's a huge hero only reinforces that. Rust is a serviceable player and he had a good season but come on, let's not pretend he's a perennial 20 goal scoring 50 point winger. He's a good player, so is Mikheyev neither is WAY BETTER than the other. Middle 6 wingers are good, the difference between their value comes down to age and the contract they have. Josh Bailey is close to both Rust and Mikheyev in skill but he's older and makes 5 million making him less valuable than the other guys. Mikheyev is the youngest and could have more upside but Rust is offering great value as well.

Stats speak for themselves man. Agree to disagree on this one but I’ll take rust over mikaylev all day every day

Because you are a pens fan and love the pens. He's a hero for you guys. Just like Fernando Pisani was for the Oilers. Sure Rust is better but it would not take much to push Rust down to the 3rd line and then his production goes back to almost 20 goals and 30 points.

He’s always on pace for 40-50 points though. And you’re right he’s typically been on the 3rd line behind hornqvist and Kessel. Now that rust is finally given more top 6 minutes he’s finally breaking out. Not a coincidence. Again, I don’t think he’s a 30-40 goal 80 point player... but if he’s given a top role on pit for the next few years he’ll be good for 50+ points

Maybe but he won't likely shoot at an 18% clip again. If he goes on a cold streak he could fall way off.

Like I keep saying. Going from a 40 goal 82 point pace to 20-30 goals and 50-60 points IS falling way off. I’m not disagreeing with that. But he’s not gonna drop to a 10 goal 30 point season in a full year

Svech >>>> Nylander

I think its likely he does. At 28 he isn't getting better. He is what he is and if he goes on a cold streak with the stars, or younger more skilled guys force him lower in the lineup next season and when players are healthy. He could drop to the 3rd line and his production will go back to what it has been. These season was an outlier, everything else he has done is what he actually is. A good player sure but he's not a 20+ goal scorer. He's done that once, he isn't a 50 point player, he did that once. What he will be is a guy who plays 70 games and scores 15+ goals and 30 points and that is great.

Dude.... like I said pretty much every year he’s on pace for 20+ goals and 40-50 points. I don’t know how you don’t comprehend this. If you don’t think he’s become a 20-30 goal 50 point player over the past few seasons then idk what to tell you. Stats speak for themselves.

On pace for means nothing. Matthews has been on pace for 50 goals every year since his rookie season, can I call him a 50 goal scorer. Just understand you are being super bias here because you love the player. I am not taking anything away from him, I am just being realistic about who he is.

How does “on pace” mean nothing. For example, last year Bryan rust played 72 games. Is it realistic to expect if he played 10 more games he would’ve scored TWO goals and 3 assists? Yes it’s completely realistic . I am not being bias at all. Being bias would be me saying this is Bryan rusts breakout year and he’s now an elite player. That’s bias. Saying Rust is capable of 50 points is not bias at all LOL

And its entirely realistic based on his career as a whole that he may have had no points in those last 10 games or 3 or who cares. The point is, we can see from his career up to this point, he is 28, he's most likely to get around 15-20 goals and 35-40 points. That is a very good 3rd liner. What he showed this year is, he isn't bad at all if he's being asked to player higher in the lineup. The problem with overvaluing that though is what happens if a younger player does better alongside Malkin or Crosby? Rust gets pushed down and his stats suffer. He isn't a game breaker by any stretch, without a world class linemate, he's around 15-20 goals and 40 points. That is all. That isn't a knock against him as a player, its just clearly what he is. You sound exactly like people who think Kapanen is definitely a top 6 winger who will score 30+ goals and 60 points. I think it could absolutely happen, once or twice in his career, but its not really what I think he's ever going to be.

Dude... the point is going right over your head. I am saying IF rust plays a top 6 role he’ll be good for 50+ points and 20-30 goals. If he plays 3rd line, like you mentioned. He’ll be around 40 points. This isn’t a debate.

Mikheyev is the exact same player then. Although I think Mikheyev is more of a top 6 player period. Either way there isn't much difference between the two.

He could be, but as of right now Bryan rust is clear cut better after the season he had. There’s a much better chance rust clears 50 points and 20 goals than miykalev as he’s done it this year and has been on pace before

Mikheyev as an NHL rookie was on pace for 50 points and started on the 3rd line, and had different linemates every week. I'd maybe hold of on judging Rust clearly better due to one season where he was insanely lucky.

Okay so let me get this straight... you just KNOCKED me saying “on pace means nothing” yet you used that exactly argument to support miykalev? Typical move. And also, on pace is a better argument when you play most of a season. Which miykalev didn’t do. He’s more likely to fall off than rust.