Locked On Penguins - Daily Podcast On The Pittsburgh Penguins - Bryan Rust remains a CONSISTENT presence for the Pittsburgh Penguins

Starting point is 00:00:00 There are players who are reliable, and then there is Brian Rust. The man who has been described is embodying what it means to be a Pittsburgh penguin, had another solid year. But the question now is, how much longer can he keep it up? Let's dive into it in a new Locked-on Penguins. You're Locked-on Penguins, your daily podcast on the Pittsburgh Penguins, part of the Locked-on Podcast Network, your team every day. Welcome in to the Thursday edition of the Locked-on Penguins podcast.

Starting point is 00:00:39 I am one of your hosts, Patrick Damp. You can follow me across all social media platforms at Synonym 4Wet. Joined as always by the one and only Hunter Hodes. You can follow him on Twitter at Hunter Hodes. And before we jump in today, this episode is brought to you by GameTime. Download the GameTime app, create an account, and use the code locked on for $20. off your first purchase. More on them coming up later in the show.

Starting point is 00:01:09 Sidney Crosby doesn't seem like he's even considering retirement or hanging them up anytime soon. The World Championships, if you haven't been watching, kind of been a little bit bonkers. But before we get into any of that, we are going to continue our season in review series with the way it is announced at PPG Paints Arena. We haven't paid much homage to Ryan Mill on this show. Number 17, Brian Rust. 72 games played this season, 29 goals, 36 assists for 65 points. It's the second straight year he's hit a career high of 65 points.

Starting point is 00:01:54 But with all of that said, he is 34 years old and he has a lot. of hard miles on him with the way he's played the game, how long he's stuck around in the NHL and everything in between. So Hunter, let's begin today's season in review before we get to grades and everything else with a pretty simple question. How much longer can Brian Rust keep up this level of play? It's a good question because after last season, I felt, oh, his production is going to take a bit of a step back next season.

Starting point is 00:02:31 It's going to be 33. Obviously, he's now 34. I'm like, okay, had a career year, but I don't think he's going to keep this up. And he had 31 goals and 65 points. Well, I was wrong. He was two goals away from tying his career high of 31 from last year. And Pat, he set a new career high in a sys with 36, had 34 last year. And then, oh, yeah, tied his career high in points from last year with 65 this year.

Starting point is 00:02:59 So he was once again, Fantastic played in a top six role, mostly a top line role with Sidney Crosby throughout the year. Him and Cid have such great chemistry. He scored so many big goals during the regular season. Yeah, his play dipped a little bit in the playoffs only had a goal in two points. You know, as the series got deeper, I was kind of thinking, okay, we might get big game, Brian, because we've seen him score some huge goals in the playoffs for the Penguins throughout his career. It ultimately did not happen.

Starting point is 00:03:29 Obviously, the Penguins losing the first round. But production-wise, he was fantastic. Great at 5-on-5. He was solid enough on the power play. I'm still curious to see if he is on that top unit for next season, considering that Chinokov is coming back. Obviously, Ben Kindle's going to have his second year in the NHL. Could you start to see him being phased off the top unit onto the second unit?

Starting point is 00:03:53 That's a decent question to ask. But again, Pat, I don't know. Maybe he does come back and has another season like this. I'm not going to bet against him because, again, low key, I kind of did going into this year. I thought he was going to take a step back. And then he really just did not production wise. I kind of was in the same boat as you. I didn't think, and I don't think you did either, thought that he was going to take some massive step back.

Starting point is 00:04:20 He wasn't going to go from like 65 points to 35. But I didn't see him having a similar year just because like I said at the top, he plays a hard game. This isn't a finesse sniper who doesn't go to the dirty areas, doesn't play a tough game. Brian Rust fits in so well with Sidney Crosby because he's a grinder at heart. He plays the game in a very honest way. He's not afraid to get physical,

Starting point is 00:04:50 not afraid to dig pucks out of the corner. We know his signature move is quite literally driving to the net. And even when it succeeds, That is a difficult move to pull off because you're getting leaned on by defensemen and you always run the risk of running into the goalie, running into the net, getting hit, getting run into the corner and into the boards. And we've seen that happen to him plenty of times. But he just continues to be a consistently great performer for the penguins.

Starting point is 00:05:21 And I put him in the category of a player who until he shows me, he's starting to slow down. I'm just going to stop betting against him. Now, I don't know if he'll do another 60-point season, but much like I said, going into this past season, I don't see him taking a massive step back. It's 50, 55 points. Maybe it's 20, 25 goals, 25, 30 assists.

Starting point is 00:05:52 But Sidney Crosby keeps humming along. He keeps riding shotgun with Sidney Crosby. I think the production sticks. Yeah, I mean, when I'm talking to step back, I'm talking, you know, 65 down to like 50-ish or something like that, like 10 to 15 points less. And, you know, but again, I don't want to really bet fully against him just because he was fantastic this year.

Starting point is 00:06:17 You know, you look at some of his underlying numbers played just over 1,000 minutes, five on five in 72 games when he was on the ice. He was below water in terms of shot at Temas, 48.7%. though plus a goal differential right around 50% in terms of expected goal share below water versus chance share excuse me at 47.6% and then high danger chance share at 51.4%. So, you know, some okay underlines this year, a couple others where you want to see get above 50%. But again, for the most part, he had a very good season. and you and I have talked about how he really doesn't need an A on his sweater,

Starting point is 00:06:57 even though I'll always push for him to have an A on the sweater just because he's just that type of player, that type of leader, great on and off the ice. He plays his ass off every single shift. It's all I can ask for from Brian Rust. He gets an A for me for this year once again, just especially production-wise. Like when you repeat that type of production a year after where, it felt like he was going to take at least a little bit of a step back, maybe put up 50, 55 points, score some big goals, come up clutching big moments.

Starting point is 00:07:31 You get an A in my book. It's hard to give them anything other than that. I am going to go maybe more A minus just because you look at those underlying numbers and you can kind of see that there, I don't want to say cracks in the foundation, but you can see that things are slowing up ever so slightly. And I also, it may not be totally fair. It's like it's two years in row where his shot attempt share is down and his expected goal share is down both below 50%. So just something to keep an eye on.

Starting point is 00:08:04 Which on the other side of that coin, he makes up for it with the counting stats. He makes the most of his opportunities, which at the end of the day, as much as you and I do love the underlying numbers and the statistics. as the famous tweet said at one time, it's not the Corsy hockey league, it's the NHL. So at the end of the day, if he's putting the puck in the net, I can't complain too much. And then the other thing that I was going to say is it may be a little bit unfair, but when you're in the role that he is in and you have the reputation he does,

Starting point is 00:08:39 I would have liked a little bit more from him in the postseason. But that applies to just about everybody who played in the, the Flyers series for the Penguins. But when we have given him the moniker of big game Brian, it would have been nice to see a little bit more out of him in the playoffs, but I can't ding him too much for it. So a minus for me, the last thing I'll say on it,

Starting point is 00:09:05 and it builds off of a point that you made, where the Penguins are organizationally, I know that he has a lot of value. I know that you could probably get a solid, return for him on the trade market. But as the penguins continue to not have that next guy, the players that they are bringing up will do a lot better if they have Brian Rust around to learn from because I set it in the cold open.

Starting point is 00:09:35 He's the guy that embodies what it means to be a Pittsburgh penguin because nobody really thought about him when he was drafted. He was basically brought up to be a depth bottom six player. he worked his ass off and became a top line winger for the team. And if that's your expectation for a few of these guys that you have drafted and are developing, that is the guy you want them to learn from. Not that they're not going to learn from Crosby or Malkin or Lattang or Carlson, but it's a lot easier to relate to the guy who did that than the superstar future Hall of Famers.

Starting point is 00:10:10 Yeah, I have the same take that I've had for the last year or two where, yeah, if you get like a really compelling offer you have to at least listen but you know of him ricard rakel er carlson we've been having this discussion for a while now i still think it's he's the least likely of those players to go just again production wise leadership wise all the other intangibles i just don't think he's going anywhere it's more likely that someone some other veteran or two is going to get moved this all season. Of course, they're going to bring in more young talent for hopefully the long term, excuse me, but I still don't think that's happening for Brian Rust, unless, again,

Starting point is 00:10:54 you really get like an offer you can't refuse Kings Ransom, but I just don't know if you're going to get that type of offer this summer. So I don't think he's going anywhere anyway. Yeah, nor do I. I think he's going to be a penguin until he no longer wants to be a Pittsburgh penguin. But that is going to do it for our opening segment, continue. our season in review series with Brian Rust. Both of us give him some sort of an A on the season.

Starting point is 00:11:20 When we come back, Sidney Crosby, he's still got quite a bit of hockey left in him. And he went on the record to talk about it. We will get into all of that when we come back right after this. But first, we've got a couple of sponsors. We got to get to starting with five hour energy. If you've got a sweet tooth like I do, you know how tough it is to find that perfect.

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Starting point is 00:13:37 Patrick Damp with you right alongside Hunter Hodes. Before we jump back in, if you never miss an episode of Locked on Penguins, It is time to make that official. Join the Locked-on Everydayer Club and you'll get access to add free audio, our members-only Discord, and so much more. It's all built for you, our most loyal fans. Head to Locked-on Podcasts.com slash Everydayer Club to find out more.

Starting point is 00:14:05 Our good pal, Josh Yohi, he may be overseas right now, but it's not for vacation. He has been covering the world championships, and today he spoke with, the captain Sidney Crosby, who for all intents and purposes, basically did a very toned down version of a wolf of Wall Street impression telling us he ain't going anywhere. Yeah. At least not yet. And while he kind of laughed at Josh's suggestion of playing five more years,

Starting point is 00:14:38 he did say this, and I'm going to read the quote, it's going to be a little chopped up because, you know, how Josh does it. He transcribes it and then adds in what the player was saying. So, quote, Kyle Dubas and I haven't even talked about it, but I'll talk with Pat Brisson and Kyle later this summer. We'll talk about it and do what makes sense. If it does make sense to sign for a couple of years, then we'll do that. I'll say this, Hunter, I saw your face when I said this, but I'll put my flag in the ground now. If he wants to, barring any serious injuries or other setbacks.

Starting point is 00:15:16 I can see him play in five more years. Maybe I guess he'll go full Tom Brady, play into his 40s, and then call it quits. So maybe, I mean, he could potentially be looking towards the 2030 Olympics. I think he's at least going to play through 2028 and that's where the World Cup of hockey is. I think that's going to be a huge deal, obviously, for not just hockey here in the United States, but all around the world with how many countries are going to be participating. And I think Sid's going to want to play for Canada there. 20, 30, Pat, I'm not going to put it past him.

Starting point is 00:15:47 Like, yeah, he's going to be in his 40s by that point. But still, you never know. He could still want to play slash be playing by then. And he's still going, you know, year to year. I like that he was able to talk about that. And I know some people were scared about it when he said it, Pat. But he wanted to make it known to everyone that it's not that big of a deal. And I still think that later on this summer,

Starting point is 00:16:14 there's going to be a chance that he resigns or signs an extension, not resigns because he's still under contract for this whole season. But I think there's going to be a chance that he signs that one or two year extension to, you know, play into the 27, 28 season or the 28, 29 season. And then, you know, we'll go from there. You know, I don't think it's going to be something that they deal with next month into July, maybe around his birthday in August when he turns 39, maybe into September right before training camp. I can see something happening there. But that's something that you can wait and deal with in a few months after you kind of see the most of the moves that you make this all season. Who goes out via trade? Who walks via free agency? Who comes in via trade? All the other stuff. And then after

Starting point is 00:17:02 that, they can maybe just sit down, grind this out, probably not going to take very long. and then they signed that one or two year extension. I'm sure Kyle Dubus is going to be asked about it after free agency, after he makes some of these trades. So we'll see. That's kind of what I'm looking at right now is maybe an extension gets signed as we get into August and September. It does also feel as if he's working pretty closely in concert with Kyle Dubis

Starting point is 00:17:30 and keeping an eye on where the franchise is heading. And I know that might sound kind of spooky like, my God, he's considering going elsewhere, retiring, whatever. I think it's more just him trying to get a feel of what's on the way, what the penguins are looking to do for the medium to long term and how he fits into it. Because we saw it again. He had another great year and there is still a lot of gas left in the tank for Crosby. So it's not, and I know this is going to sound like I'm.

Starting point is 00:18:07 denigrating Malkin, but you can see the wheels starting to wobble a little bit for Vgeny Malkin. It's not like, that's why I said a little bit. I wasn't saying it like, oh, Malkin's washed now. It's also not like Littang, who we talked about yesterday, where you're starting to see father time catch up to him. For now, there is still a lot of good hockey seemingly in front of Sidney Crosby. So you don't have to worry about where he fits in, what he can bring to the tape.

Starting point is 00:18:37 So I think this is more him trying to keep the organization from falling into a bad spot should say a sudden drop off happens. And you're looking at three more years of Crosby under contract and you're not going to be able to get out of it. And it's just this is where he is in his career. There's no reason for him to sign a three, four, five year deal. They know he's loyal. They know he doesn't want to go anywhere. So if you got to sign them once a summer, it's not going to be that hard. It's not going to be that difficult.

Starting point is 00:19:12 It should take five minutes like the geno extension should. I know we haven't gotten that news yet. We're in the end of May now. But that contract, if they want to do it later on this summer should take five minutes. Hell Pat, they don't even have to negotiate the AAV because we all know what it's going to be. We all pretty aware that he's going to sign for $8.7 million. It's just what he does. The other really interesting thing I got from Josh's article, and this is more, I think he'll never admit to it.

Starting point is 00:19:42 Sid, that is. He is very keenly aware of records. He's very keenly aware of things like that. As soon as the puck drops next season, if Sidney Crosby is in the lineup for game one, he will pass Willie Starrjill from the Pittsburgh Pirates for the most seasons played for a team in the history of Pittsburgh sports. So that would be a really nice feather in his cap. And then the other thing, it will be his 22nd season with the Penguins. And there are only 13 more players who have played more seasons and only one who has played more with one team. And that's Alex Del Vecchio

Starting point is 00:20:25 from the Red Wings who played 24 with Detroit. So you can kind of see Crosby's angling towards I want to set that record. Yeah, he doesn't want to go anywhere. Thankfully, Pat, we won't have to deal with any of that garbage this summer that you saw last summer with all these, you know, national media people being like, oh, my God, are they going to trade him? Oh, my God, this, oh, my God, that. They made the playoffs this year.

Starting point is 00:20:52 They're going to try to get younger, even younger this summer, continue on their process. You're not going to see any of that crowd. Thankfully, and even if you, by some chance, see it by one or two people, just ignore it. Pure stupid engagement farmers. There's also something that I do want to point out as well heading in the next season, Pat. Right now, he has 1,761 points. He is 10 away from tying Marcel Dion for 6 all time on the Angel's point list.

Starting point is 00:21:16 And then he is less than 40 away from tying Ron Francis for fifth all time. He's going to set that next season as a member of the Penguins. He's going to be top five all time and points. He's going to hit 1,800 points and be only 50 points away. from tying Gordy Hal for fourth. I mean, he'll be less than 50 points by the time he ends next season. But there's more history to be had there where he's going to be top five in scoring all-time in initial history. That's going to be pretty cool to see, man.

Starting point is 00:21:49 And I can't wait. And very similar to me saying I can see him playing five more years. I don't see a world barring injury or any other unforeseen circumstance where he doesn't work his way into the top five. of all-time scoring. I think by the time he retires, he will easily have made his way into the top five of all-time scoring in the league. It'll be five next year.

Starting point is 00:22:14 I mean, maybe he gets into fourth the year after, maybe by the end of his career, he's third. We'll see. I mean, he's going to have an outside shot at getting third, maybe second place. Obviously, you're not catching Wayne for first, but outside shot pad of getting to second or third. we'll have to see Yager finished with 1,921.

Starting point is 00:22:35 Again, outside chance, but you never know if he keeps playing well into his 40s. So we'll see. Yeah, I misspoke there. I meant top three, not top five. I know how close he is to the top five. I meant three, but whatever. People know what I mean on that one. I've clarified it.

Starting point is 00:22:50 But that is going to do it for our middle segment. When we come back, if you haven't been watching the world championships, it's understandable with the Stanley Cup playoffs, the Calder Cup playoffs, the Kelly Cup playoffs and the recently finished PWHL playoffs. It's understandable, but here's the thing. You may have been missing out because there have been some darn good games the last few days. And we're going to talk about those when we come back right after this. But we've got one more sponsor to get to and that is game time.

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Starting point is 00:24:57 Hunter Hodeys. And while most of us here are absolute sickos, not everybody is. So if you haven't been keeping up with the world championships, you are missing some really good hockey. Hunter, I know you especially have been keeping an eye on this one. And I want you to do this for our listeners. There was a wild game between Canada and Norway. Yes, Norway, break that one on down for us. It was whack.

Starting point is 00:25:28 Norway was just going punch for punch with team Canada, who obviously has the most veteran roster at the world championships. You know what's crazy, Pat? It was a 6 to 5 final. No points for Sidney Crosby. I don't even know how that's possible, especially after the way he played earlier this week, where he had four assists in one period against Denmark.

Starting point is 00:25:48 But Mark Shrevely had that dog in him. He was not letting Canada lose in that overtime. They win 6 to 5. I mean, Dylan Cousins also scores for Team Canada. It was a lot of fun watching that game. Like, kudos to Norway, man. They played their absolute asses off against the best team in this competition. Shifley, by the way, he had a hat truck in this game.

Starting point is 00:26:11 He capped off his great game with the third goal in overtime to win six to five. Ryan O'Reilly also had a huge game. Remember, Pat, Norway was up five to four on Canada, and O'Reilly had to tie at five-five before Shifley ended up winning it in overtime. I mentioned Dylan Cousins. He also scored Gabriel Vilardi. also scored in this game. So again, just a really fun back and forth affair.

Starting point is 00:26:40 Did not think it was going to be that close. No. And Parker Watherspoon gets an assist on one of the Shifley goals. And you look at that game on the surface. And one, you think Norway, who while they're not bottom of the barrel for hockey, they're, I would say B, maybe C tier when it comes to. your international programs, but go and blow for blow with a team Canada roster that, you know, with the exception of a couple of players, has brought their squad.

Starting point is 00:27:17 This is a lot of, there are a lot of players who are available that are there for Team Canada. Obviously, McDavid's not there. Mitch Marner is still in the Stanley Cup playoffs. Nathan is still in the Stanley Cup playoffs. but for the most part, this is a really, really good team Canada roster. Norway goes punch for punch with them, nearly gets a win over Team Canada. As you said, Sidney Crosby somehow doesn't record a point in a shootout kind of game, not an actual, it did not go to a shootout, but a 6-5 shootout game.

Starting point is 00:27:55 It was a wild one all around. And then to keep it going here with some penguins relations, Team USA keeps their at least slim chances and hopes alive with a 4-3 win over Germany. And part of the reason they were able to keep that alive was a tying goal in the third period from Tommy Novak, which forces overtime. It goes to a shootout. Ryan Leonard wins it for Team USA in the shootout. So good to see that some of our penguins have been performing pretty well at the World Championship. chips. Yeah, going into that game, Novak only had one point. It was an assist in a few games,

Starting point is 00:28:37 but then he scores a huge goal with less than six minutes to go in the third period to pull team USA even with Germany. It was a mad scramble in front of the net. Tommy Novak was able to find the loose puck and found enough room and beat the German goaltender to tie the game. Really nice job by Novak. They're hanging out around the front of the net, gets a loose change, makes no mistake, ties the game. And then it looked like the U.S. was actually going to lose in the shootout for a while before Matt Coronado keeps the minute. And then Ryan Leonard was able to win it in the fifth round of the shootout. Remember in these shootouts, they're best of five rounds, not best of three rounds like you see in the

Starting point is 00:29:15 NHL. It's also the best of five. It's kind of what you see in the EA sports NHL games when you want to challenge someone to an online shootout. I used to do that a lot of times when I would play the every year EA sports NHL. And then they just ruined the game. And I just haven't played the game in years. But that's a discussion for a different time.

Starting point is 00:29:32 I'm on this show. But so I like the best of five format, at least in the international stage. I understand why you don't want to see any NHL because you and I, we don't really want to shootouts in general. I think a lot of fans also kind of feel the same way. But in international, I don't really mind it. But that's a big win for Team USA. They're now two and two overall in this competition heading into their next game this

Starting point is 00:29:54 weekend. And then before we get out of here, Pat, one last note, Wilkesbury has a chance to close out Springfield tonight in game four. let's see if they do it. Yeah, this is a big one for the baby penguins. They can move on to the Eastern Conference final with a win. And I don't want to make a prediction, but it does feel like that Wilkes Bear has kind of shifted into all business mode at this point. There's no, hey, we're happy to be here.

Starting point is 00:30:22 There's no, hey, we're playing well. There seems to be a feeling around that team of we know how good we are. We know what we need to do. so they can really, really save themselves some trouble by getting a win tonight in Springfield. And obviously, we will bring you the updates and recap of that game on the Friday edition of Locked on Penguins. Might be just me tomorrow, but time will tell. But make sure you're subscribed. Make sure you're following because we will, no matter who's behind the mic,

Starting point is 00:30:56 for the Friday edition, be recapping that one. as well as continuing our season in review series. And of course, because it's Friday, fan take Friday returns to the Locked-on Penguins podcast. But that is going to do it for the Thursday edition of Locked-on Penguins. For Hunter Hodes, I am Patrick Damp. Thank you, as always, for tuning in. And we will be back on Friday.

Locked On Penguins - Daily Podcast On The Pittsburgh Penguins - Bryan Rust remains a CONSISTENT presence for the Pittsburgh Penguins

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