Major Contender In West Connected To Penguins' Rust

The Edmonton Oilers didn't bring in any major additions this offseason as some were expecting they may. Goaltending hasn't changed to this point and only Andrew Mangiapane and Curtis Lazar have been brought in. Don't get me wrong, I think both are good signings, but players like Brock Boeser and John Gibson were connected to the Oilers.

Having said that, Edmonton will look different than they did on their run to the Stanley Cup Final. Evander Kane and Viktor Arvidsson have been traded, Connor Brown and Corey Perry have signed elsewhere, and Jeff Skinner remains a UFA. Even though the Oilers didn't blow all of their money or assets right away, that doesn't mean something still won't materialize this summer.

According to Darren Dreger, Bryan Rust of the Pittsburgh Penguins has been attached to the Oilers this offseason. That is an intriguing one as the Penguins are trying to get younger and build for the future while they have an even better trade asset in Rickard Rakell potentially available.

I don't think the Oilers have the assets they are willing to move required to acquire Rakell. Since Stan Bowman has made it clear the team is going to get younger, even though Edmonton is Stanley Cup contenders, that doesn't mean they have to trade away all future players. That makes it tough to build from within and have good, young players on entry-level deals contributing. Those players being Matthew Savoie and Isaac Howard.

Rust has three years left on his deal and he's 33 years old. It will increase the price to get salary retention, but can easily be done. The age doesn't line up with how the Oilers have been adding, but it would be ridiculous to no even consider any older players who just recorded 31 goals and 65 points in 71 games on a non-playoff team.

Anyone offensive talent the Oilers bring in from another team can't be expected to put up the same numbers since the power play is set. But, an effort has to be made to give Leon Draisaitl capable wingers. Rust has done a great job complementing Sidney Crosby and Evgeni Malkin for years and hasn't slowed down yet. Three years at a sub-$5 million AAV contract would be excellent, especially since there is no trade protection on his contract for the final three years.

The Oilers have next to no cap space right now, but send Mattias Janmark back in a trade with Pittsburgh, send Max Jones to the AHL, and have the Penguins retain half, and the money is much closer to working. Unfortunately Adam Henrique doesn't want to waive his no-trade clause, which hurts the Oilers, but it remains to be seen how active the Oilers will be for the rest of the offseason or if they will just wait to see what becomes available mid-season.