This is the first part of a 30-part series taking a look at the seasons of players who spent significant time on the Penguins' NHL roster this season, presented in numerical order.
RUTGER MCGROARTY Position: Wing Age: 22 NHL stats: 3 goals, 3 assists, 24 games Contract status: Signed through 2026-27, $950,000 cap hit (waivers-exempt)
On the surface, Rutger McGroarty's season stat line in the NHL is underwhelming for a second-year pro. But it's important to remember how he started this season behind the eight ball. An upper-body injury sustained during offseason training delayed his start to the season until mid-November. After getting his bearings in the AHL and earning a recall in December, a collision with a teammate in practice gave him a concussion and a couple more weeks on the sidelines.
Did McGroarty show enough in the NHL when healthy to be penciled into an NHL roster spot coming out of camp next season?
McGroarty finished the NHL season with three goals and six points in 24 NHL games while averaging 11:58 per game, mostly in a bottom-six role. The production itself isn't anything exceptional. But there were stretches where he legitimately looked like he belonged at this level, even when he wasn't producing. He looked capable of helping drive play, and the advanced numbers backed that up.
The Penguins controlled 56.43% of shot attempts with McGroarty on the ice at five-on-five this season, and their expected-goals share was 52.57%. Of the 21 forwards to play at least 30 minutes at five-on-five for the Penguins this season, McGroarty ranked fourth in rate of individual expected goals for, at 1.02 per 60 minutes. But his shooting percentage ranked 16th at 8.33%, resulting in less impact on the score sheet.
For a young winger in a depth role, those are still encouraging underlying numbers. And perhaps with more power-play opportunities or consistent top-six minutes, that could have resulted in more production.
If there's a knock on McGroarty's year, it's the way he performed in the last three games of the regular season, after the Penguins clinched a playoff spot.
Those two games against the Capitals and the season finale against the Blues could be considered "meaningless," sure. The Penguins were locked into the No. 2 seed regardless, and that's why they sat a lot of their NHL regulars who were dealing with bumps and bruises. But for younger players like McGroarty, the games were anything but "meaningless." That was an opportunity to show why you were deserving of being the next man up if one was needed in the postseason. But McGroarty was quiet in those three games, recording one goal and just three shots on goal on five attempts. Ideally, McGroarty would have generated chances at a higher rate than guys like Kevin Hayes and Rafael Harvey-Pinard in those games, but that wasn't the case
It was an up-and-down year in the end. The concussion in January was rough timing because it came right as he seemed to be getting more comfortable. And every time he went back to Wilkes-Barre, he responded the way the Penguins probably wanted him to, producing offensively and forcing himself back into the conversation for another recall. He finished the AHL regular season at over a point-per-game pace for the first time, racking up 34 points (10 goals, 24 assists) in 30 games, an improvement over his rookie-year pace of 39 points (14 goals, 25 assists) in 60 games.
This wasn't a big breakout NHL season like some may have hoped for McGroarty. But I also don't think it was a disappointing year. It felt more like another development year where he seemed to take more steps forward than his NHL point totals would suggest.
What does McGroarty's ceiling look like at this point? It remains a little unclear. It's still easy to envision McGroarty becoming an effective bottom-six winger next season who can chip in secondary scoring. Ideally, he'd take that leap next year and eventually force his way into a top-six role.
THE ASYLUM
Season review: Will McGroarty carve out a spot?
This is the first part of a 30-part series taking a look at the seasons of players who spent significant time on the Penguins' NHL roster this season, presented in numerical order.
RUTGER MCGROARTY
Position: Wing
Age: 22
NHL stats: 3 goals, 3 assists, 24 games
Contract status: Signed through 2026-27, $950,000 cap hit (waivers-exempt)
On the surface, Rutger McGroarty's season stat line in the NHL is underwhelming for a second-year pro. But it's important to remember how he started this season behind the eight ball. An upper-body injury sustained during offseason training delayed his start to the season until mid-November. After getting his bearings in the AHL and earning a recall in December, a collision with a teammate in practice gave him a concussion and a couple more weeks on the sidelines.
Did McGroarty show enough in the NHL when healthy to be penciled into an NHL roster spot coming out of camp next season?
McGroarty finished the NHL season with three goals and six points in 24 NHL games while averaging 11:58 per game, mostly in a bottom-six role. The production itself isn't anything exceptional. But there were stretches where he legitimately looked like he belonged at this level, even when he wasn't producing. He looked capable of helping drive play, and the advanced numbers backed that up.
The Penguins controlled 56.43% of shot attempts with McGroarty on the ice at five-on-five this season, and their expected-goals share was 52.57%. Of the 21 forwards to play at least 30 minutes at five-on-five for the Penguins this season, McGroarty ranked fourth in rate of individual expected goals for, at 1.02 per 60 minutes. But his shooting percentage ranked 16th at 8.33%, resulting in less impact on the score sheet.
For a young winger in a depth role, those are still encouraging underlying numbers. And perhaps with more power-play opportunities or consistent top-six minutes, that could have resulted in more production.
If there's a knock on McGroarty's year, it's the way he performed in the last three games of the regular season, after the Penguins clinched a playoff spot.
Those two games against the Capitals and the season finale against the Blues could be considered "meaningless," sure. The Penguins were locked into the No. 2 seed regardless, and that's why they sat a lot of their NHL regulars who were dealing with bumps and bruises. But for younger players like McGroarty, the games were anything but "meaningless." That was an opportunity to show why you were deserving of being the next man up if one was needed in the postseason. But McGroarty was quiet in those three games, recording one goal and just three shots on goal on five attempts. Ideally, McGroarty would have generated chances at a higher rate than guys like Kevin Hayes and Rafael Harvey-Pinard in those games, but that wasn't the case
It was an up-and-down year in the end. The concussion in January was rough timing because it came right as he seemed to be getting more comfortable. And every time he went back to Wilkes-Barre, he responded the way the Penguins probably wanted him to, producing offensively and forcing himself back into the conversation for another recall. He finished the AHL regular season at over a point-per-game pace for the first time, racking up 34 points (10 goals, 24 assists) in 30 games, an improvement over his rookie-year pace of 39 points (14 goals, 25 assists) in 60 games.
This wasn't a big breakout NHL season like some may have hoped for McGroarty. But I also don't think it was a disappointing year. It felt more like another development year where he seemed to take more steps forward than his NHL point totals would suggest.
What does McGroarty's ceiling look like at this point? It remains a little unclear. It's still easy to envision McGroarty becoming an effective bottom-six winger next season who can chip in secondary scoring. Ideally, he'd take that leap next year and eventually force his way into a top-six role.
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