Big updates on Bryan Rust, Nick Bjugstad and Alex Galchenyuk from the Penguins.

If you are a fan of the Pittsburgh Penguins then you have probably been dreading any injury updates that have been coming your way this season. I can hardly blame you, to say that the Penguins have been decimated by injuries to start the 2019 - 2020 National Hockey League regular season would be a massive understatement, but it sounds like things may finally be turning around for the organization.

Although there has been no formal announcement from the Penguins themselves, Penguins insider Dave Molinari is now reporting that two Penguins are set to return this evening when the Penguins will face off against the Dallas Stars. Molinari reports that both injured forwards Bryan Rust and Nick Bjugstad had strong practices on Friday and that both appear slated to return to action on Saturday night when they will join fellow Penguins teammate Patric Hornqvist to form the Penguins second line once again. Molinari spoke to Penguins head coach Mike Sullivan whom Molinari described as optimistic, if somewhat evasive regarding the official return of his players.

"They had a strong practice," Sullivan said as per Molinari's report, adding that "it certainly looked encouraging, watching them practice today."

While Rust and Bjugstad are slated to return Saturday it sounds like Alex Galchenyuk, another injured Penguins forward, will not be very far behind those two. Galchenyuk has been out of action for a while but surprisingly he flew out to Dallas to join his teammates at practice on Friday, a sign that he too is extremely close to a return.

"He's obviously getting real close," Sullivan said. "He's joined the team in practice. That's the reason we brought him out here, to get him around the team, to get him into team practices. The next step, obviously, would be the decision to put him back in a game."

Sullivan did officially confirm that Galchenyuk would not play on Saturday so that one is off of the table, but the fact that he did not make similar statements regarding both Bjugstad and Rust lend further credence to the fact that the Penguins do expect them back in the line up. Furthermore the Penguins moved veteran defenseman Erik Gudbranson off of their roster by trading him on Friday, and also placed defenseman Zach Trotman on waivers that same day, seemingly in an effort to open up additional roster spots for their returning players.