When the Pittsburgh Penguins re-signed Evgeni Malkin, Kris Letang, Bryan Rust and Rickard Rakell in the summer of 2022, Rust’s contract was the one I probably had the least amount of confidence in from both a short-term and long-term outlook.
(I felt the same way about Rakell; I just had no expectation they would actually re-sign him.)
It was not a case of not liking him.
It was not a case of thinking he was not and is not good.
It was simply a matter of long-term value and whether or not it was the best investment.