Rickard Rakell & Bryan Rust Given High Expectations by Analysts Ahead of 2025-26 Season
Photo credit: TSN
Pittsburgh Penguins forwards Rickard Rakell and Bryan Rust, both of whom were bright spots for the team, are being held to high standards if they stick around by analyst Kelsey Surmacz.
Pittsburgh Penguins general manager Kyle Dubas has been looking for trade partners so that he can unload forwards Bryan Rust and Rickard Rakell, but hasn't been successful.
Dubas is also said to be looking to try and trade defenseman Erik Karlsson, but with his considerable AAV (average annual value) of $11.5 million for another 2 years, it's been difficult.
As training camp gets closer and closer, it looks more and more likely that the Penguins could start the year with one or both of Rakell and Rust still with the team.
Both players performed well for the Penguins last year, and per analyst Kelsey Surmacz of The Hockey News, they'll have to continue doing so if they stick around.
But he has sure blossomed into a top-of-the-lineup player. Even if Rust can be streaky at times in the midst of any given season, he has still managed to produce six consecutive seasons of 20 or more goals and at least 42 points.
A repeat of last season - or even a near-repeat - largely depends on who Rakell is deployed with alongside with in the lineup. If it's another season alongside Crosby, there's no discernible evidence that Rakell will just forget how to score.
If the Penguins do keep Rakell and Rust, it won't sit well with fans who were expecting a move.
Evgeni Malkin could be playing his last year in the NHL
Just like Sidney Crosby, the 3 year postseason drought is the longest in the NHL career of longtime Penguins mainstay Evgeni Malkin.
2025-26 is also the final year of his current contract, and the prevailing thought is that Malkin could be entering his final season in the NHL. It would represent the true end of an era of Penguins hockey that resulted in 3 Stanley Cups and multiple personal awards for him.
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