There have been rumors linking the Red Wings to Pittsburgh Penguins forwards Bryan Rust and Rickard Rakell since early July, with Pittsburgh Hockey Now’s Dan Kingerski attempting to assess the Penguins’ probably high asking prices for the two forwards last week.
You guys, gals and in-betweeners know by now that I’m not one for posting trade rumors for the sake of posting trade rumors, even in mid-to-late July…
But Bleacher Report’s reputable Adam Gretz offers a slate of 5 teams to which Rust might be traded, and Gretz’s first landing spot for the 33-year-old native of Pontiac is Detroit:
Detroit Red Wings: This might be one of the most sensible options for several reasons.
For one, Detroit needs to do something significant this offseason. The Red Wings have been way too quiet for a team that should be desperate to make the playoffs, and they could really use a player with Rust’s two-way ability.
They also have more than $12 million in salary cap space just sitting there, while Rust is from Michigan. The Red Wings also have a nearly full cupboard of draft picks and a solid prospect pool that could be enticing to a Penguins team that is looking to add more young talent.
The Red Wings missed on pretty much everybody in free agency and have not made any major trades.
Rust would be a great way to change that if they could pull it off.
Continued; as I’ve said for a while now, the 5’11,” 192-pound Rust is a better net-front guy, but I’m a bigger fan of 32-year-old Rickard Rakell as he’s a more dynamic play-maker and scorer. Rust doesn’t have Rakell’s wheels, and Rackell is a little heavier at 6’1″ and 203 pounds, too.
Ironically enough, both players have similar cap hits, with Rust in the 4th year of a 6-year contract with an AAV of $5.125 million (per PuckPedia), and Rakell is in the 4th year of a 6-year contract with a $5 million cap hit.
As July drags along, I’m less and less hopeful that GMSY and the Red Wings’ management will make any trades to supplement the Red Wings’ top-six scoring and/or top-four defensive group, but we can always hope, and there are realistic “fits” for the Wings and Rust or Rakell.
The summer is full of bullshit rumors and made-up stuff, but there are legs to this particular set of rumors, and reputable hockey people are examining how and why Rust and Rakell might fit in with the Red Wings.
