Huge update on Penguins star Evgeni Malkin & Bryan Rust.

The Pittsburgh Penguins have thus far gone through the entire regular season without one of their top stars in the lineup, but it sounds like that may finally be set to change.

Malkin has been out of action for a lengthy period of time following a surgical procedure back in June to repair his damage knee, but it appears as though his body has finally recovered to the point that he can begin training at full strength once again. A report from Pens Inside Scoop on Monday morning has confirmed that Malkin hit the ice at practice today wearing a regular black jersey, the first time he has done so since undergoing that surgical procedure.

We had seen Geno taking to the ice prior to the holiday break but on each of those occasions Malkin was wearing a white non-contact jersey which indicated that he was still going through the process of rehabilitating his injury. 

Believe it or not that wasn't the only good piece of news to come out of Penguins practice on Monday either. Forward Bryan Rust was also on the ice with his teammates today and although he had also practiced prior to the Christmas break, like Malkin he had only done so in a non-contact jersey up until now. On Monday however Rust was also donning a black jersey alongside Malkin, a sign that both forwards could soon be back in the Penguins regular lineup.

Rust has been out since late November when he suffered an unfortunate injury in training while preparing to face off against the New York Islanders.

The timing couldn't be better for the Penguins who will be in need of reinforcements after a significant number of players have been forced out of action. Veteran forward Jason Zucker was not on the ice today and Teddy Blueger, Tristan Jarry, John Marino, Mike Matheson, Evan Rodrigues and Dominik Simon have all been added to the Covid protocol list today.