Story by
Hard Knocks of Penguins Prospects; Rust Has Some Answers (+)
- Story by
- Hard Knocks of Penguins Prospects; Rust Has Some Answers (+)
Jeff Curry-Imagn Images Jeff Curry-Imagn Images
Sooner or later, several Pittsburgh Penguins prospects will get another chance at playing in the NHL. Whether it be Rutger McGroarty , Ville Koivunen , or Tristan Broz , their time will come again.
With the pending trade deadline, a couple of the prospects might find themselves in the lineup if general manager Kyle Dubas moves on some veterans for good returns.
Advertisement
And sooner than later, each of the talented forwards will have to claim his spot in the lineup by adding some offensive production, lest they forever be cast as AHL players or typecast as bottom-line pluggers.
Indeed, one of the biggest impediments to full-time NHL work for both McGroarty and Koivuen was the lack of goal lights. While Koivunen's game alternated between stymied on chances and invisible, McGroarty has largely played well in 20 NHL games this season, but amassed only one goal and two assists. After his next-to-last game, he could only smirk and shake his head after a hockey bag full of scoring chances instead became saves on the scoresheet.
So, to get a better sense of their development process, we had a good talk with a graduate of the school of hard knocks.
There is now a Penguins winger who was once in their shoes, er, skates. After a year with the USNTD in the USHL and four years at Notre Dame, Bryan Rust made his NHL debut in the ill-fated 2014-15 season.
Advertisement
Rust played 14 games that season and recorded just two points (1-1-2). He was not much more than a fourth-line plugger who didn't pass the puck.
The following season wasn't much better. Rust played in 41 games as the team's fortunes turned from frustrated entitlement to intensely disciplined Stanley Cup champions. He registered 11 points with four goals.
But things changed. Or, rather, Rust changed them. Sunday, Rust scored his 20th goal of this season, the seventh straight season he has notched at least 20 goals.
Very few players in the league have evolved like Rust from a grinder more suited to the bottom of the lineup to a top-line winger. Pittsburgh Hockey Now sought to pick his brain on how he did it.
Advertisement
His answers drip with the context of someone who had to learn how, not of someone who was gifted with the innate ability.
"I think over the years, I just had to learn more. And I think the more you feel comfortable in this league, the more you kind of figure out what to do," Rust told PHN. "But I think (one lesson)–more so, you don't really need to be going 100% all the time. It's more so about–there are times that you need all-out effort and be a dog on a bone and outwork guys and hopefully get to the net and all that stuff. But there are also times when you've got to find the open ice and kind of get lost in the weeds andthings like that, and then reappear."
Tricks of the trade.
Last season, the 32-year-old Rust showed he was still going to school by setting a career high with 31 goals. He's not just a puck-retrieving tag-along on Sidney Crosby 's line, but a contributor.
Advertisement
"(Learning how) to kind of reappear where, when you need to be–And I (was able), I think by watching a lot of guys over the years how to do that," Rust said. "But I think coming up, being close with and seeing ( Jake Guentzel ) do it since the day that he got here, I think I was able to just kind of watch how well he does it as a not a very big guy who's able to find his way to get open and get open near the net."
Of course, being a slick next-level producer in the offensive zone is more than just playing hide-and-seek with defensemen and finding open space … as both McGroarty and Koivunen have found out.
Both of the prospects indeed have a natural ability to find open space. Yet in 63 combined games, they have a combined five goals. McGroarty has a trio of tallies in 28 games, while Koivunen has only two goals in 30 games.
His struggle to finish is probably the last hurdle for McGroarty to lay claim to full-time work. After all, his skating is improved, his defensive game is complete, he kills penalties, and he can be heavy in both the offensive and defensive zones. He's also shown NHL-level playmaking.
Advertisement
Yet he's not yet a regular in the show because many scoring chances equaled disproportionally too few goals.
"It's also learning that you're not always going to score by kind of ripping it over the goalie's glove, or kind of speeding by, and ways like that. You've got to feel a little bit more deceptive with your release. And I think how you shoot the puck can sometimes be more important than where," said Rust. "Can you change your shot like that? I think it's just–you keep working on it. You've got to find times when you can work on things where you're not so comfortable.
"It's easy to work on your shot when you have all sorts of time and space, but kind of working on getting things off quicker, or if your feet are in kind of awkward spots and things like that; times where the goalie might not expect you to shoot or shoot as quickly as you eventually get it off. I think those are the times you can catch goalies off guard."
The post Hard Knocks of Penguins Prospects; Rust Has Some Answers (+) appeared first on Pittsburgh Hockey Now .
Advertisement
Related Headlines
