For the first part of his career Bryan Rust has been the type of player that you never really fully appreciated until he was not in the lineup and everything kind of fell apart. He always made an impact in whatever role the coaching staff put him, but you maybe never fully realized it until he was not there to do it.
You always hear hockey people talk about “glue” players, the non-superstars that every winning team has and needs. It is usually about a fourth-line grinder that checks people for the sake of “bringing energy,” or a depth player that does not provide much in the way of tangible results but is a “leader” or “personality” in the room to keep everyone together.