Rakell Was Not The Only Penguin Snubbed From 4 Nations

There are many hockey fans out there wondering why Pittsburgh Penguins sniper Rickard Rakell was left off of Sweden's 4 Nations Face-off roster, and rightfully so.

Rakell has put up 23 goals and 45 points in 53 games this season. He is the Penguins' leading goal-scorer and has, consistently, been one of their best players.

While the outcry over Rakell is certainly valid, there is another Penguins' forward who should have gotten more love from his country's selection committee as well.

Bryan Rust - born in Pontiac, Mich. - probably isn't a name that was sky-high on priority lists for most 4 Nations roster projections. However - as he has done for his entire NHL career - Rust, 32, is quietly going about his business and putting up numbers that are probably deserving of more attention than he has gotten.

Despite two brief injured reserve stints this season, the semi-power forward has put up 40 points in 46 games. He also registered his sixth 20-goal season in Saturday's 3-0 win over the Nashville Predators - and that would be his sixth consecutive season of 20 or more goals. 

In fact, Rust has been flirting with point-per-game in all but one of those seasons, which came during a down year in 2022-23 that still resulted in 20 goals. He has had a unique path in the NHL, which began as a fourth-line checking player when he broke into the league in 2014-15. It took him five seasons to fully hit his stride and receive regular playing time in Pittsburgh's top-six, and he's been a mainstay ever since.

Marry his production with his versatility - he plays regular minutes on the power play and on the penalty kill - as well as his leadership qualities and work ethic, and you have the makings of a very reliable third- or fourth- line player in a best-on-best tournament. 

Sure, guys like Clayton Keller should certainly be on the team. Other players like Cole Caufield, Tage Thompson, and Jason Robertson definitely deserved some recognition as well. But, if you look at the current landscape of American-born players in the NHL, it's entirely understandable why some of these guys didn't make the cut.

However, three players in particular - New York Rangers forwards Chris Kreider and Vincent Trocheck and New York Islanders forward Brock Nelson - may not have been two of the best picks, in hindsight. Sure, no one expected the steep and sudden drop-off of Kreider, who - after a 39-goal, 75-point season in 2023-24 - only has 15 goals and 3 assists this season. 

Trocheck and Nelson - while fine options as a third- or fourth-line centers for Team USA - could probably have been replaced by Keller, especially if a player like Rust was named to the roster instead of Kreider. Rust, although a winger, brings a similar skillset to the table in comparison to Trocheck and Nelson, and Keller's offensive production would have offset Kreider's.

In other words: having Keller and Rust on the roster instead of Trocheck/Nelson and Kreider seems perfectly reasonable. Rust isn't far below other players like Robertson, Thompson, and Caufield in points-per-game pace, and his veteran status, leadership qualities, and special teams versatility probably would have given him a leg up. 

Even though Rust would not have been the most obvious selection for Team USA, he would have been a good one. As is the case with Rakell, if there are any players in need of replacing, Rust should be one of the first to get the call.