Breaking: Devastating news for Bryan Rust

The Pittsburgh Penguins announced today that all of Matt Murray, Chad Ruhwedel and Bryan Rust would miss Friday's tilt against the Carolina Hurricanes, with the news for one player being particularly worse than the others.

"Rust will be out “longer-term,” Sullivan said — usually an indication the timetable is months, not weeks — with an upper-body injury," Sam Werner of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette reported. "Ruhwedel is “week-to-week” with an upper-body injury, and Murray is “day-to-day” with an upper-body injury, though Sullivan said Murray will not play Friday against Carolina."

Rust is a generally valuable winger on the team, as his speed and timely goals in clutch moments have made him a staple of the team over the past couple years. A less likely - but possible - scenario for the winger was that he'd be used as trade bait to improve the team in the centre position, but with the news that he's likely out for months, that chip is off the table.

Jim Rutherford's work just got more difficult - although perhaps this finally opens up room for Daniel Sprong. The top prospect has been a force in the AHL this season, putting up 24 points in 28 games, good for nearly a point per game.

Rust, for his part, has 18 points in 38 games for the Penguins.