Injury Report: The Official Bryan Rust is Mid Thread
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BobCole
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- May 21, 2014
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I don't necessarily disagree with this, but I think it's relevant to keep in mind that the guy is 32. He's no longer going to show up and produce every night.
- Apr 20, 2006
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Empoleon8771
Registered User
If he could do that, he'd be one of the best players in the NHL.
That's just what happens with guys like Rust. They go on heaters but also have droughts where they're doing nothing. The only guys that doesn't apply to are stars in the NHL.
- Apr 20, 2006
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Sort of. But he gets to play with one of the best distributors who ever played the game. I’m not saying he has to play like a Tanev every game, but in too many games, he plays like he’s a superstar who’s in a bad mood. A good coach doesn’t let him get into those funks.
CheckingLineCenter
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- Aug 10, 2018
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ChaosAgent
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- May 8, 2018
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Sully likes Rust = Rust bad
Centers get old Rust there = Rust mid
Official Bryan Rust is our 2nd best player thread
Centers get old Rust there = Rust mid
Official Bryan Rust is our 2nd best player thread
Alright, which one of you is Rust's mom and told him about this thread???
HandshakeLine
A real jerk thing
This is a more scathing inditement of the team than I had originally intended, but sure.
Khelandros
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- Feb 12, 2019
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lokomotiv15
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As I sink deeper into my mid-thirties, I'm not sure if I know exactly what "mid", or any of these other things the kids are saying are; I'd assume it means average, medial, etc, but some things I see on the tiktok make it seem like mid is worse than average? Who knows. I dont even know how much of this thread is in jest, but Rust is definitely in a strange spot. When he broke out as a "consistent" producer in the regular season in 19-20, he topped out as a winger who finished in 25th place in pts/game while playing with 2 consistently top-15 offensive players in the NHL. Otherwise he has sat in the 70th place range and been all the way down to 205th in PPG a few years ago and back up to 86th in points per game this season.
It's a stretch to say he'd be one of the best in the league if he competed every night like he did when he was younger; Its also a stretch to say he's as washed, a passenger, or as brain dead a player as some make him out to be. He will always have a place in my heart in 30 years as a 2 time cup winner who was a net plus to the team for most of the time he's been here. He hasn't lost a step, and when Sid could carry a top line by him-self/ with Jake taking some of the load against top pairs every night, he was a consistently useful, point producing, multi tool player who would be sold short being called a "third wheel".
I think in a vacuum, he's always been a solid, no question about it, top-6 NHL winger who would catch fire with an all time great to push him to PPG production when he wasn't hampered by injuries.
This year, he doesn't definitely doesn't work north-south in any capacity like he used to. He doesn't create any much in terms of force overs or back-tracking on guys to break up plays like he used to. Hes good for a few bone head plays a game, and looks like a generally frustrating player to play with at times. Passes, or rotating into coverage, forcing lanes, etc... He does have his nights where he is skating well and goes back to hounding puck carrier deep, supporting off the rush and finding soft spots and putting everything on net, putting his best asset to work in his shot. Those games may be coming fewer and farther in between, but if nothing else, he is still probably our most dangerous shooter with time and space other than Rakell.
Don't hate Rust because Sullivan loves him, jams him down our throats. and the media blindly props him up 2 tiers higher than he should be. He is but another example of time and relevance always being fleeting,
It's a stretch to say he'd be one of the best in the league if he competed every night like he did when he was younger; Its also a stretch to say he's as washed, a passenger, or as brain dead a player as some make him out to be. He will always have a place in my heart in 30 years as a 2 time cup winner who was a net plus to the team for most of the time he's been here. He hasn't lost a step, and when Sid could carry a top line by him-self/ with Jake taking some of the load against top pairs every night, he was a consistently useful, point producing, multi tool player who would be sold short being called a "third wheel".
I think in a vacuum, he's always been a solid, no question about it, top-6 NHL winger who would catch fire with an all time great to push him to PPG production when he wasn't hampered by injuries.
This year, he doesn't definitely doesn't work north-south in any capacity like he used to. He doesn't create any much in terms of force overs or back-tracking on guys to break up plays like he used to. Hes good for a few bone head plays a game, and looks like a generally frustrating player to play with at times. Passes, or rotating into coverage, forcing lanes, etc... He does have his nights where he is skating well and goes back to hounding puck carrier deep, supporting off the rush and finding soft spots and putting everything on net, putting his best asset to work in his shot. Those games may be coming fewer and farther in between, but if nothing else, he is still probably our most dangerous shooter with time and space other than Rakell.
Don't hate Rust because Sullivan loves him, jams him down our throats. and the media blindly props him up 2 tiers higher than he should be. He is but another example of time and relevance always being fleeting,
SomeDude
Registered User
He’s not as bad as most everyone on here makes him out to be, but the sudden outrage by local idiot “journalists” saying he should be playing for team USA is one of the worst takes in the history of recorded media.
HandshakeLine
A real jerk thing
I mean, you exactly defined what middling is, which is my overall point. Rust is fine. He's a perfectly acceptable Bob Errey. He's not great to watch, he's not really exciting, he's often lazy and bad, but he can put in a night like he did last night every once in a while. He's a perfectly serviceable store brand box of macaroni and cheese, nothing more, nothing less.
If he wasn't propped by the team and Sullivan as "a true Penguin, born and raised", I would probably end up thinking quite fondly of him, the way I think of, say Ol' Bibsy.
But it's also funny that people get so mad when you don't agree that Rust is a great or even very good player.
HandshakeLine
A real jerk thing
Au contraire, it is very funny because they are so dumb and the takes are so bad.
ChaosAgent
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- May 8, 2018
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Oh fo sho. Maybe Rakell or Petts or Malkin. Especially Rakell right now. But shows how bad this team is at the top.
HandshakeLine
A real jerk thing
Yeah, it's like early stages of GenX Pens bad on top.
Perpetually stuck in the first ten games of 2000-2001.
lokomotiv15
Registered User
Haha sorry, I coach U18 this year and the way that the kids say things are "mid", it seems like its an insult more than anything; Im trying to pick it up, I really am.
And agreed, this whole "he is the quintessential Penguin" schtick that seems to have reared its head the last 2-3 seasons definitely rubs some of that shine off when watching him play or reflecting on his career.
Like I said, I'll always have a soft spot for a 10+ year, 2 cup winning player, but "A giant in penguins history" is some mean hyperbole. How close is he to even a Chris Kunitz when it comes to Pens history?
Zbynek
Jarry friggin sucks dude
Khelandros
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- Feb 12, 2019
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He's Penguins years Pascal Dupuis, with Powerplay time.
If Rust was Derek Zoolander, that would be his Blue Steel.
He has one move, and that is it.
Media is on it
www.pensburgh.com
Bryan Rust is not slowing down
Bryan Rust has not just been a bright spot for the Pittsburgh Penguins, he has been a legitimately good top-line scorer.
www.pensburgh.com
Buddy Bizarre
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- Jul 9, 2021
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You beat me to the punch. When your own coach doesn't pick you as one of the top 8-10 US born wingers for a tournament, that means you're not in the upper echelon.
Rust certainly isn't in the tier of DOC or those like that.
So yup that leaves one right in the middle.
HandshakeLine
A real jerk thing
Glad to see Pensburgh continues to suck absolute dogshit.Media is on it
Bryan Rust is not slowing down
Bryan Rust has not just been a bright spot for the Pittsburgh Penguins, he has been a legitimately good top-line scorer.
They still mad that Carter went and retired on them.
Turin
Erik Karlsson is good
- Feb 27, 2018
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If Rust played with prime Sidney Crosby and Chris Kunitz he would have scored 90 points in a season and I'm not kidding.
WickedWrister
Registered User
Nah... Errey was generic store brand sub 0.5 ppg macaroni and cheese. Rust is the good stuff, that liquid gold Velveeta .66 career ppg. Also been near PPG since the Guentzel trade. You're spot on with the Sullivan shtick though, after last nights performance he said “He’s an honest hockey player. He’s a Penguin.”
Khelandros
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- Feb 12, 2019
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If Dupuis played with Prime Crosby and Kunitz, he could have scored 160 points in a season and I'm not kidding.
Crosby's prime years.
