Rumor: Bryan is staying in Pittsburgh.

The Pittsburgh Penguins are reportedly very close to re-signing one of their big pending unrestricted free agents, although it probably isn't the name most fans would have had at the top of their list.

It was National Hockey League insider Darren Dreger who first reported that Rust and the Penguins were closing in on a brand new contract. There has not been any kind of official announcement yet on the part of the Penguins organization, however with how strongly Dreger worded this report it would appear to be a forgone conclusion at this point.

The biggest part of Dreger's update though comes in regards to the term involved in this deal. According to Dreger this will be a "long term" contract extension for Rust, something that I suspect will have been key to signing him before he becomes an unrestricted free agent later this summer.

It will be very interesting to see how much Rust gets on this new deal, especially in light of talk of "insulting" offers made to some of the Penguins other big pending free agents.

Stay tuned for additional details.