Blue Jackets and Penguin Recommended Trade – Hockey Writer – Pittsburgh Penguin
The Pittsburgh Penguins have another tough season as they are expected to continue their long-term rebuild so they will be close to the bottom of the standings. With Sidney Crosby sticking out until the end of his career and becoming one of the few highlights on the team, they can hope to capitalize on the value of some other players in the trade market this summer. The Columbus Blue Jackets, a team that hopes to cause a splash and re-enter the playoffs, had a short game last season but looked promising enough that they could make it to the playoffs next season.
Related: Columbus Blue Jacket 2025-26 Prospect Pyramid
The Blue Jacket has plenty of cap space left as it enters the 2025-26 campaign, more than $16.3 million to be exact, and it can be used to strengthen part of its lineup. Over the past few months, Penguin forward Bryan Rust has raised his name in trade speculation, and although he hasn’t been traded yet, the move seems to be coming, with Blue Jackets owning assets to try to reach a deal to strengthen their top six forward group.
Rust, 33, was ranked 80th by the Penguins in the third round of the 2010 NHL Draft. He scored 31 goals and added 34 assists to score 65 points in 71 games last season. He spent all his career with the Penguins and added 234 assists with 437 points in 638 games, with an average of 0.68 points.
The Penguins may look for future assets in exchange for Rust, as their goal is to recompetitively over the next few seasons, and the Blue Jackets can put solid trade packages together and take on Rust’s entire contract. He is in the fourth season of his six-year contract, with a blocking percentage of $5,125,000.
What will the trade look like?
Let me say there is no report that the blue jacket is interested in rust and hasn’t even checked in yet. This is based on the assumption that the blue jacket is the buyer, and their ability to adapt to the entire contract throughout the contract without having to worry about retaining. It is also important to note that Rust no longer has any trade protections.
That being said, a realistic deal looks like Blue Jackets acquires Rust in exchange for Defender Stanislav Svozil, a conditional 2027 first-round pick, 2026 third-round pick and 2027 third-round pick.
Conditional first provides some safety, if rust hurts, the Blue Jackets may turn it into a second round pick without getting a certain number of points, or whatever conditions they agree to. Similarly, the 2026 NHL Draft is expected to have one of the strongest classes in about a decade, so it will be important to keep their first-round pick. On top of that, the Blue Jacket has two third-round picks in 2026 and 2027, so it should be easy to hand over these assets to a deal on the Hump.
For the Penguins, they added three draft picks, which allowed them to strengthen their prospect pool as well as Svozil, which is promising defensive prospects. Svozil, 22, was ranked 69th by Blue Jackets at the 2021 NHL Entry Draft. He has only two NHL experience, but over the past two seasons, he has scored 47 points in 120 games in the Cleveland Monsters in the American Hockey League (AHL). He will have the opportunity to play in the NHL game in training camp and the deal makes sense for them considering that the Penguins need young players to prepare for high jump players.
The deal makes sense to some extent for both teams, and it’s a realistic deal that could happen. Time will tell if the penguin decides to move the rust, and if the blue jacket shows interest, but it would be an interesting deal if both parties can pull it apart.
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