CRANBERRY, Pa. -- The Penguins have gone through much of this season without some of the most prominent forwards on their payroll.
Evgeni Malkin has missed the past five games. So has Nick Bjugstad. Alex Galchenyuk has sat out four in a row. Bryan Rust hasn't played since the preseason finale.
That's $22 million of salary-cap space that's spending game nights in street clothes.
All four were counted on to make meaningful contributions -- some bigger than others, of course -- in 2019-20. None of them, however, has chipped in anything more than moral support during the Penguins' four-game winning streak.