This afternoon a new mock trade has surfaced between the Pittsburgh Penguins and Winnipeg Jets centered around Penguins forward Bryan Rust. The Winnipeg Jets continue to re-load as they get set to defend their President's Trophy as the NHL's top regular season team from last season in 2025-26. The Jets have made several changes including <a href='https://www.hockeylatest.com/nhl-team/winnipeg-jets/jonathan-toews-takes-the-ice-in-jets-gear-as-winnipeg-returns-to-practice' class='lien_marqueur' target='_blank' rel='noopener'>signing Jonathan Toews and Gustav Nyquist</a> but the team still lacks depth up front and are currently expecting several young players to step up in a major way. A new mock trade provided by Heavy Sports has given a solution that would provide the Jets with veteran winger Bryan Rust at the expense of top prospect Nikita Chibrikov. <h3>Winnipeg Jets Acquire Veteran Forward Bryan Rust In New Mock Trade</h3> The trade in totality would see the Jets acquire Rust with the Penguins landing Chibrikov, Morgan Barron, and a 2026 first-round pick. Jets Get: Bryan Rust Penguins Get: 2026 First-Round Pick Nikita Chibrikov Morgan Barron This trade becomes a no brainer for the Penguins as they receive several young assets to rebuild around in exchange for an aging player in Bryan Rust. The Jets would get back Bryan Rust who at 33 years old had a career year with the Penguins tallying 65 points in 71 games alongside Sidney Crosby. Rust also provides the Jets will Stanley Cup pedigree as a multi-time champion as well. <div align='center' class='pl20 pr20'><blockquote class='twitter-tweet' data-lang='en'><a href='https://twitter.com/penguins/status/1880803301362438268'><div style='border:1px solid #CCCCCC;border-radius:10px;padding:20px;width:300px;'>Loading from Twitter ...</div></a></blockquote></div> If the Jets and GM Kevin Cheveldayoff were going to go through with this deal they would need to be certain that Rust can play at that high of a level with Mark Scheifele as his center. If Cheveldayoff has any doubt over Rust's ability to be an elite level winger then this deal would not be worth it for the Jets.