
Given Sullivan’s normal timeline, he could be missing a similar chunk of 2021-22 already. But prior to that, Rust has picked up knocks playing 55/69, 72/82, 69/82 and 57/82 in his full-season NHL years. Rust put up 49 goals in 111 games in the 2019-21 shortened seasons, and played all 56/56 games last year*.

Missing a chunk of the season here probably stops him from hitting a nice round mark like 30 goals or 60 points, and teams tend to give contracts heavily influenced by the boxcar stats of the prior season.īut there still will be a lot of games left whenever he returns to make a case for himself. But for Rust, this has to be about the worst time imaginable. Obviously, it goes without saying that there never is a good time for a player to be knocked out with an injury. He’ll reach his 30th birthday by that point, which means his next contract will likely be the most lucrative and most important one he signs as a hockey player.

He is in a contract year and could be approaching the open market next summer for the first time in his career. One time a few seasons ago, Patric Hornqvist was said to be week-to-week and only ended up missing nine days, but he used viking healing powers and motivation to return, so that might not be applicable for most.įor Rust, this is a tough blow. Says what surgery that happened and says out 6+ months (the worst case scenario, when a player has to have a major surgical produce and is known to be out, likely for the rest of the season/playoffs).įrom combing over the data, last season a “week-to-week” diagnosis from the coach typically resulted in a player being out 3-6 weeks, with the occasional exception to the rule in both directions. Week-to-week: “He’s injured to the point where a return isn’t on the immediate horizon.” Maintenance day: “I’m giving him a practice off, but we think/hope he won’t miss the next game.”ĭay-to-day: “He’s injured and unable to play, but fairly close and we will keep re-evaluating and seeing what the next day brings.” Generally, the tiers go, with translation:

That provides a handy place for a “Mike Sullivan coachspeak” reminder: And just to clarify, it is a lower-body injury for Rust.
