Bryan Rust suspension length is questionable given his history

The Pittsburgh Penguins just recently wrapped up a Canadian road trip where they went 4-0 and collected all 8 possible points. But there is bad news to go along with the good news of sweeping the road trip. Bryan Rust was handed a suspension for a late hit in the Penguins victory over the Canucks.

Rust hit Canucks forward Brock Boeser up high with his elbow and Boeser's head cocks back and now Boeser is on IR for Vancouver. Rust was handed a 3-game suspension for the hit and the length of the suspension should definitely be in question.

Rust has no prior history to this hit so being handed 3 games is quite ridiculous. Rust is being treated like he is Tom Wilson who has a history of bad hits like these and lengthy suspensions. The explanation was that the hit warranted 2 games and that Boeser got hurt warranted 1 more game.

It is insane to give Rust that many games when he is not a repeat offender and has never done anything like this before. And now Rust will miss Thursday's contest against the Chicago Blackhawks, Saturday's contest against the New York Rangers, and the following Monday's contest against the Ottawa Senators.

Rust is not necessarily needed for the Penguins next two games as the Penguins should win these games rather easily. But Rust being out against Ottawa hurts because that is a team that the Penguins usually struggle with.

The Penguins and Rust are fortunate that general manager Kyle Dubas can recall forward Rutger McGroarty or Ville Koivunen to take his place while he sits out for three games. The Penguins need not take any chances putting veteran Kevin Hayes into the lineup.

It is better to have one of those two take Rust's spot for now rather than have Hayes out there doing cardio and being a waste of space. But with that being said, the NHL Player Safety is not consistent with the way they handle bad hits. It speaks volumes that Rust is now an example for never having done something like this before.