On the Eve of the NHL’s opening night, the Pittsburgh Penguins have unveiled their roster.
Forward Bryan Rust and goaltender Alex Nedeljkovic will start the season on the injured-reserve.
Penguins head coach Mike Sullivan has described Rust as “Day to day”.
Rust tallied 28 goals and 28 assists for 56 points in 62 games during the 2023-24 season with Pittsburgh. The 32-year-old suffered injuries throughout the season which held him out of the lineup for about 20 games.
Rust was a third-round, No. 80 overall pick of the Penguins in the 2010 NHL Draft. He made his NHL debut during the 2014-15 season, he’s spent the entirety of his 10-season NHL career with the Pens. He won back-to-back Stanley Cup Championships with the Penguins in 2016 and 2017. Rust is currently in the third year of a six-year deal with a $5.125 million cap hit that he signed with the Penguins in the 2022 offseason.
Meawnwhile, Nedeljkovic will also start the season on injured reserve after suffering a lower-body injury. The 28-year-old is coming off of a solid season working in tandem with Tristan Jarry, where he had an 18-7-7 record, a .902% save percentage, a shutout, and a 0.57 goals saved above expected in 38 games played. \
The Penguins re-signed Nedeljkovic to a two-year contract extension with a $2.5 million cap hit back in June. Nedeljkovic is a former second-round pick by the Carolina Hurricanes in the 2014 NHL Draft, he made his NHL debut during the 2016-17 season and saw stints at the NHL level over the next four years before establishing himself as a regular in the 2020-21 season, where he was a finalist for the Calder trophy.
