Rutger McGroarty’s first full run with the Penguins didn’t produce a clean breakout, but it did leave enough evidence to keep the conversation going.
The 22-year-old winger, who sat atop Pensburgh’s Under-25 list a year ago, lands at No. 4 in the 2026 rankings after appearing in 24 games for Pittsburgh last season. The numbers and the usage tell the story: McGroarty spent most of the year bouncing between the NHL and Wilkes-Barre/Scranton, trying to carve out a role while dealing with injury setbacks and limited opportunity.
His season didn’t even get off the ground the way he wanted. McGroarty missed training camp with an upper-body injury, opened the year rehabbing, and then started in the AHL.
His first NHL call-up ran from Dec. 1 to Jan. 3, and in 16 games during that stretch he produced three points - two goals and one assist - while averaging 12:13 of ice time and seeing little special-teams work. That stint ended with a concussion diagnosis, sending him back to Wilkes-Barre.
After four AHL games following his recovery, McGroarty returned to the Penguins on Jan. 29 and played four more NHL games before the league paused for the Olympic break. He later earned a third recall in late March, after Pittsburgh had already clinched a playoff spot, and scored his third goal of the season in a regular-season finale loss to the St. Louis Blues.
The NHL minutes were uneven, and his impact followed suit. But in the AHL, McGroarty looked far more like the player the Penguins hoped they were getting. He marked his return to the WBS lineup in November by scoring four goals in his first four games back from injury, then went on to post a point-per-game season and played a major part in Wilkes-Barre/Scranton’s run to the Eastern Conference Final.
After the season, McGroarty told Inside AHL Hockey’s Tony Androckitis that he viewed the 2025-26 season as “a year of learning.”
”I think that, being between two teams, kind of having a few different roles helped me a lot mentally… going through those growing pains of going up and down, playing well here, maybe playing well there and not producing,” McGroarty said in June.
McGroarty is signed through next season and is set to reach restricted free agency before his age-23 campaign in 2027. With Ville Koivunen having already landed an eight-year extension earlier this offseason, the pressure is on McGroarty to turn his development into something more concrete at the NHL level.
Penguins general manager Kyle Dubas said in May that McGroarty’s skating has improved, and he pointed to the winger’s work away from the puck as part of that progress.
“He’s put in a lot of work. I think it’s evident when watching the games, for me, anyway,” Dubas said about McGroarty in May.
“Especially without the puck on the forecheck, able to generate much more speed, pressure the opponents. I think that’s the type of game he’s going to have to play.”
Dubas added, “I think, with Rutger, he’s proven to be an excellent penalty killer, excellent netfront power-play guy with Wilkes/Barre. The skating has always been the thing with him, and he’s put in the work, and improved on it.
”So we expect next year that he’ll have every opportunity to earn a spot here. How high in the lineup that is will be up to him, and earning a spot at large will be up to him.”
That makes this a pivotal year for the 22-year-old, especially with Pittsburgh’s forward depth and his contract situation hanging over the next few months. The path is there, but it starts with a healthy training camp and a chance to stay with the team long enough to make the spot his own.
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