Confirmed Trade: [PIT/WPG] Rutger McGroarty for Brayden Yager

[Tie Domi Esquire]

How so? Winnipeg offered him a job with their organization and he turned it down.

In the absence of a signed contract he has absolutely zero professional obligation to them.

There's a CBA for a reason. Part of it exists to protect weak markets like Pittsburgh and Winnipeg. This is not supposed to be like your local grocery store job where you can walk down the street to the other store because you feel like it. There's also a salary cap but at this point, not sure why.

 

[wpgallday1960]

And you can add to that quote made recently by Chevy to one earlier this summer where he said they wanted to sign Rutger at the end of last season.

Plus Chevy also spoke directly to McG and got the same”didn’t feel right” vague comment from him. Starting to look like it wasn’t the Jets development plan that he soured on, it was just that he didn’t want to be here in the first place.

 

[RiverbottomChuck]

Vibes McGoarty

 

[Dr Amazing]

The Yagermeister for Rudiger.

 

[Ragamuffin Gunner]

I just find this thread funny because it's a bunch of Penguins fans and Jets fans mostly happy about the deal, then a bunch of Leafs fans saying how bad it is for the Penguins and saying how bad Dubas is.

Yup. These losers would 100% be saying that McGroarty was much better than Yager a week ago, but now that Dubi traded for him Yager is 100% the better player.

 

[StreetHawk]

That's fine. I'm sure the Jets that have an issue retaining/attracting talent would have made the decision to burn the year to retain him if he was interested and worry about his second contract whenever it came up.

Burning an elc year is a money/salary cap matter. It has no impact of the player accruing a year towards ufa. You need to be on an nhl roster for half the season to accrue a season to either get 7 to be ufa or accrue 4 and turn 27 by July 1.

Even a cup contender you would deal with it after 2 full seasons an of the player. best to burn the year and secure the player vs damage the relationship.

 

[surixon]

Burning an elc year is a money/salary cap matter. It has no impact of the player accruing a year towards ufa. You need to be on an nhl roster for half the season to accrue a season to either get 7 to be ufa or accrue 4 and turn 27 by July 1.

Even a cup contender you would deal with it after 2 full seasons an of the player. best to burn the year and secure the player vs damage the relationship.

Burning a year gets the player to his second contract quicker. Thus it gets them paid quicker if they are good. Most colleg players want the year burned off their elc at the end of the season for that reason.

 

[PenguinSuitedUp]

Interesting how this trade happened right after the Liane trade. Was it the Jets or the Pens who were in on Laine and then moved on….

I don’t think these two trades are linked at all. Laine and McGroarty are two very different players in two very different situations.

 

[StreetHawk]

Burning a year gets the player to his second contract quicker. Thus it gets them paid quicker if they are good. Most colleg players want the year burned off their elc at the end of the season for that reason.

Agreed. It can be a lot of money. Beniers, Power, Sanderson burned a year and signed for $7 mill and $8 mill on their 2nd contract.
Then the other end was Kent Johnson who signed for $1.8 mill aav for 3 years having split time between the NHL and A. But, the $1.8 mill is guaranteed vs the $925K base with incentives to earn a max of $3.3 mill on an elc.

So long as the player understands that signing early and burning is no guarantee that they make the NHL roster full time in what is their 1st full pro year. it's a nicer lifestyle/facilities to play for a big time NCAA program than ride the buses/facilities for your typical AHL club. So, the high end kids want to avoid the AHL typically.

 

[wpgallday1960]

The "didn't feel right" comment is just what the agent said versus airing out the details of their decision, though it seems rather obvious why he soured on Winnipeg.

According to Chevy's presser the "didn't feel right" comment was repeated to Chevy by McG when they met face to face and that feeling started at the 2023 development camp when he seemed to thrilled being a future Jet and was becoming a fan favourite.
It was not obvious why he soured on Winnipeg as he could offer only that vague explanation.
It seems more likely he didn't want to play in Winnipeg but only brought it up when the Jets tried to sign him after Michigan's season ended.

 

[pth2]

I don’t think these two trades are linked at all. Laine and McGroarty are two very different players in two very different situations.

For all we know though, one of Montreal and Columbus was after one of the traded prospects, and the Laine deal took that off the table.

 

[TooManyHumans]

I just find this thread funny because it's a bunch of Penguins fans and Jets fans mostly happy about the deal, then a bunch of Leafs fans saying how bad it is for the Penguins and saying how bad Dubas is.

Find someone you love as much as Leafs fans hate Dubas.

 

[Sidney the Kidney]

Find someone you love as much as Leafs fans hate Dubas.

Much easier to hate on Dubas than to admit that a big reason for Dubas' "failures" in Toronto are due to their star players turning into absolute turds when it matters most.

None of the Pens' GMs have Cups on their resume if Crosby/Malkin were playoff chokers like the Leafs "stars".

 

[Boss Man Hughes]

Much easier to hate on Dubas than to admit that a big reason for Dubas' "failures" in Toronto are due to their star players turning into absolute turds when it matters most.

None of the Pens' GMs have Cups on their resume if Crosby/Malkin were playoff chokers like the Leafs "stars".

It's for deals like this one. He should have got a + in the deal for helping the Jets out.

 

[SEALBound]

It's for deals like this one. He should have got a + in the deal for helping the Jets out.

I talked about this several pages ago. While most see them as roughly equal, I think McGroarty did have slightly more value. The "equal" part comes from the minor loss in value for not wanting to sign.

Jets could easily have kept him and let him go back to Michigan and then try again next season. Apparently the Penguins really like the kid so the willingness to do 1:1 and get the guy you want, that comes at a cost as well.

I can't imagine Dubas got the call from Chevy and was like "well...meh, I dunno...Rutger is okay I guess. Let me think on it" while trying to decide if he fits. I think Dubas clearly wanted the kid and was willing to make it work.

It's just a flat out good deal for both sides. Both sides made out very well here. McGroarty signed his ELC and with Yager, you have a kid who is near-ish to home. Certainly closer to home than Pittsburgh.

Specifically though, what should the "+" have been? 4/5/6/7th round picks are f***ing meaningless. I could MAYBE see a minor swap of prospects but at the end of the day, what's the point when you're talking Yager and McGroarty?

 

[Romang67]

You mean like Kyle Connor?

Or Connor Hellebuyck.

It's for deals like this one. He should have got a + in the deal for helping the Jets out.

This is a bit of a weird take, and seemingly a common one. It makes the assumptions that:

1. The Jets were in a hurry to trade McGroarty.
2. The Penguins was the only team (or one of very few) interested in trading for McGroarty.

Otherwise 1. the Jets have no need to take less value for a trade right now when they could have waited, and 2. teams that wanted McGroarty still need to outbid other bidders.

 

[MichaelFarrell]

Pens got a player that is more of a sure thing but with less upside imo.

I love Yager. Jet’s fans got a very good prospect but he hasn’t improved as much as I thought he would.

 

[Empoleon8771]

Or Connor Hellebuyck.

This is a bit of a weird take, and seemingly a common one. It makes the assumptions that:

1. The Jets were in a hurry to trade McGroarty.
2. The Penguins was the only team (or one of very few) interested in trading for McGroarty.

Otherwise 1. the Jets have no need to take less value for a trade right now when they could have waited, and 2. teams that wanted McGroarty still need to outbid other bidders.

Yeah not only that, it is entirely reasonable to suggest that the Penguins thought McGroarty was a better enough prospect than Yager that doing the 1 for 1 swap was worth it.

It's just weird to call an extremely even 1 for 1 swap bad for Dubas because "he could have gotten an additional mid round pick!".

 

[Frank Drebin]

Dont have much of an idea about either player

Fun guess for NHL comparables if both hit their ceilings?

 

[Zap Rowsdower]

I was excited about Yager, he's got good vision and a great shot. But now that's he on another team I think he's a bad prospect and his shot sucks.

 

[Zen Arcade]

The Pens could've drafted a 5'10 defenseman from the USHL with no discernible standout traits with that extra mid round pick.

 

[OtherThingsILike]

I can't imagine Dubas got the call from Chevy and was like "well...meh, I dunno...Rutger is okay I guess. Let me think on it" while trying to decide if he fits.

Yeah, if the Winnipeg media knew the Penguins liked McGroarty back in January, Dubas could hardly pretend to be uninterested now.

Dont have much of an idea about either player

Fun guess for NHL comparables if both hit their ceilings?

I very much doubt McGroarty will hit his ceiling, but a comparison I've seen in a few places is Matthew Tkachuk.

 

[Whileee]

I agree, but they are exciting in different ways imo. Other then Ehlers and Connor they aren't super flashy that are going to do end to end rushes ala Mack/Makar etc.

They burn you more in terms of rotations, positioning and picking their spots. It's the type of player i like BTW. Our offensive schemes could definitely be updated to play more to their strengths.

You need top 3-5 picks in the right drafts to get electrifying talents like Makar and MacKinnon. Jets have had only one top-5 pick in 14 drafts and ended up with Laine (who was a pretty dynamic scorer during most of his time with Winnipeg).

I think the Jets have had rosters that can and have played exciting hockey, but they have had a long stretch of coaches that prefer a tight defensive system. I don't expect Arniel to break that mold, but he might play some of the Jets' faster and more skilled players in more prominent roles. I hope they rejuvenate the stagnant PP, too.

 

[CheckingLineCenter]

Pens got a player that is more of a sure thing but with less upside imo.

I love Yager. Jet’s fans got a very good prospect but he hasn’t improved as much as I thought he would.

Everyone keeps saying the bolded and I see the opposite tbh

Rutger has wider range of outcomes to me.

Yager better floor, lower ceiling.

Just my opinion but I thought similar about the Drysdale/Sanderson debate. Everyone kept calling Drysdsle the high upside lower floor of the two and it seemed opposite. This is a little different since McGroarty isnt a great athlete (like Sanderson) but to me if he hits big he could produce way more points than Yager’s ceiling IMO and be a unique threat in doing it, like how Tkachuk and Benn are/were. Very hard to see Yager ever being like a big time point producer.

Floor wise: Yager better chance to carve out a role with his skating, 2way game and positional versatility as a RH shot and center capable. If McG too slow, he could be like a 100-200 game guy then done.

 

[TS Quint]

Much easier to hate on Dubas than to admit that a big reason for Dubas' "failures" in Toronto are due to their star players turning into absolute turds when it matters most.

None of the Pens' GMs have Cups on their resume if Crosby/Malkin were playoff chokers like the Leafs "stars".

Why has the Leafs roster construction stayed the same since Dubas left? It's because it's the "ShanaPlan" not the "DubasPlan". Dubas pushed Nylander to the edge on his second contract and Shanahan caved and flew to Nylander to kiss his ass. After that Shanahan just let the stars write their own contracts. That's why Matthews, Nylander and soon Marner all have similarly bad contracts again even though Dubas is gone.