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

[Luigi Lemieux]

Some time in the ahl with first line minutes and pp time will be good for him. I expect to see him back up later in the year or next year.

 

[MardyBum]

Looks like Rutger wasn't as NHL ready as he wanted to believe. Nobody outside the inner circle knows for sure, but if the kid got advice that he should get traded out of The Peg because they wouldn't guarantee him a roster spot, he unfortunately got some very bad advice. Hope the best for him though as he may be in the right spot for him right now.

He's in Pittsburgh now with even less winger depth, so in the long run it's better for him.

 

[Sidney the Kidney]

He's in Pittsburgh now with even less winger depth, so in the long run it's better for him.

Not with Sullivan signed to a lifetime contract it isn't.

 

[3074326]

I mean, we’ve been led to believe that the whole reason why Rutger demanded a trade was because he thought he was NHL-ready and wanted immediate ice time, but the Winnipeg brass thought otherwise. Going back down to the minors is a normal thing for rookies, but here the context matters. Rutger getting benched/sent down after two shaky games shows there is a second organization that believes he is not ready, and his extortion for NHL ice time is therefore highly questionable. Jets fans have every right to be calling this out.

I just wish they'd do it on their boards since literally nobody else cares

 

[Pavel Buchnevich]

I mean, we’ve been led to believe that the whole reason why Rutger demanded a trade was because he thought he was NHL-ready and wanted immediate ice time, but the Winnipeg brass thought otherwise. Going back down to the minors is a normal thing for rookies, but here the context matters. Rutger getting benched/sent down after two shaky games shows there is a second organization that believes he is not ready, and his extortion for NHL ice time is therefore highly questionable. Jets fans have every right to be calling this out.

I don't know how you've concluded Pittsburgh thought he wasn't NHL ready. They quite literally did think he was NHL ready. He started in the NHL. That doesn't mean there won't be ups and downs, including a trip back to the minors. For all we know, it's for two weeks.

And that's assuming that Pittsburgh got it right. Not like he's had a really long stint in the NHL where anything has been proven. He's played like 35 total minutes. I think it's early to conclude anything from that. For all we know, he's 1PPG in the minors, too good for that league, and we're back in the same situation we were where the season began.

 

[Johnny HFBOARDS]

BUST




him out of the AHL, he belongs on the 1st line!

 

[larmex99]

He's in Pittsburgh now with even less winger depth, so in the SHORT run it's better for him.

There, I fixed it for you. Penguin’s will soon be in a deep and long rebuild.

 

[jetsforever]

Hope he learns some humility in the AHL

 

[MardyBum]

There, I fixed it for you. Penguin’s will soon be in a deep and long rebuild.

And the Jets will be . . . What? A playoff team out in the first round every year?

 

[Jetcetera]

Womp Womp

 

[Nogatco Rd]

I mean, we’ve been led to believe that the whole reason why Rutger demanded a trade was because he thought he was NHL-ready and wanted immediate ice time, but the Winnipeg brass thought otherwise. Going back down to the minors is a normal thing for rookies, but here the context matters. Rutger getting benched/sent down after two shaky games shows there is a second organization that believes he is not ready, and his extortion for NHL ice time is therefore highly questionable. Jets fans have every right to be calling this out.

I thought the Winnipeg GM is on record as saying he wasn’t given a reason as to why McGroarty wouldn’t sign?

In any event, he clearly wasn’t promised an NHL spot in Pittsburgh either, yet he was fine with signing there. That should tell you his concerns lie either with the Jets organization itself, or with the city of Winnipeg. I guess that’s a less palatable narrative for Jets fans though.

 

[Royale With Cheese]

I thought the Winnipeg GM is on record as saying he wasn’t given a reason as to why McGroarty wouldn’t sign?

In any event, he clearly wasn’t promised an NHL spot in Pittsburgh either, yet he was fine with signing there. That should tell you his concerns lie either with the Jets organization itself, or with the city of Winnipeg. I guess that’s a less palatable narrative for Jets fans though.

Whatever the reasons - and really he’s the only one that knows how he feels - I think any franchise that picks a guy in the first round is investing in the player and thinking they will turn into something special. When the player says “it’s not a good fit” a few years later, it probably stings the fan base and the organization a bit. Coyotes fans felt it with Wheeler, Flyers fans felt it with Gauthier and now Jets fans likely feel it with McGroarty. Maybe they all didn't like the franchise, the city, the ownership, the coach. Who knows.

I’m over it, happy with the trade return and don’t really care what happens with McGroarty, good or bad. I think most Jets fans are in that same headspace.

 

[mazmin]

Tugger McGroans needs to work on foot speed and getting stronger. Whatever power elements he exploited in college aren’t working against top professionals. He’s average sized/strength at best with heavy feet. He still has terrific potential to improve but he’s not nearly as good as he thinks. The AHL should bring his ego down while he improves these skills. The ball’s in his court and it’s up to him if he gives it a proper tug.

 

[zappa4ever]

Maybe duder thought his chances of beating out 1 of Rust/Beauvillier/Bunting/Rakell/DrewOC/Poolparvi was better than WPG giving him "fair" chances to start gms
doesn't take a rocket surgeon to know there'll be big oppty to be the nextz genz Guentz in PIT

 

[SEALBound]

It's nice to see Rutger living rent-free in a couple of heads.

He gets assigned to the AHL and there's been no reports that he wants out or won't report. Maybe it's time for Jets fans to start internalizing the fact that, maybe it wasn't about the NHL vs AHL. Maybe he wanted out of the Winnipeg organization. I'd be focusing my energy on figuring out what the real reason was (which, again, I highly doubt is "muh NHL spot")

 

[Empoleon8771]

Looks like Rutger wasn't as NHL ready as he wanted to believe. Nobody outside the inner circle knows for sure, but if the kid got advice that he should get traded out of The Peg because they wouldn't guarantee him a roster spot, he unfortunately got some very bad advice. Hope the best for him though as he may be in the right spot for him right now.

I wonder how many times fans are going to repeat this "he demanded a trade from Winnipeg because he wasn't guaranteed a NHL role" before they realize it's totally fabricated. Chevy, Dubas and McGroarty have all said that report was fake.

He just didn't want to play in Winnipeg for whatever reason.

I thought the Winnipeg GM is on record as saying he wasn’t given a reason as to why McGroarty wouldn’t sign?

In any event, he clearly wasn’t promised an NHL spot in Pittsburgh either, yet he was fine with signing there. That should tell you his concerns lie either with the Jets organization itself, or with the city of Winnipeg. I guess that’s a less palatable narrative for Jets fans though.

He is on record saying this. People just keep repeating the "NHL guarantee" thing even though both Dubas and Chevy said that wasn't true.

 

[Coastal Kev]

Tugger McGroans needs to work on foot speed and getting stronger. Whatever power elements he exploited in college aren’t working against top professionals. He’s average sized/strength at best with heavy feet. He still has terrific potential to improve but he’s not nearly as good as he thinks. The AHL should bring his ego down while he improves these skills. The ball’s in his court and it’s up to him if he gives it a proper tug.

Don't be jelly.. be happy you were able to get a valuable prospect back. The trade looks like it will be good for both teams down the road.

 

[Habs Halifax]

There, I fixed it for you. Penguin’s will soon be in a deep and long rebuild.

Yes it appears so. A team in rebuild denial

It's nice to see Rutger living rent-free in a couple of heads.

He gets assigned to the AHL and there's been no reports that he wants out or won't report. Maybe it's time for Jets fans to start internalizing the fact that, maybe it wasn't about the NHL vs AHL. Maybe he wanted out of the Winnipeg organization. I'd be focusing my energy on figuring out what the real reason was (which, again, I highly doubt is "muh NHL spot")

Yeah, it does smell like he didn't want to go to Winnipeg. I'm not a big fan of players doing this kind of thing. Anyways, glad to see the Jets got a decent return and were not fleeced.

 

[Jacob]

No reason to be so petulant, you guys got a good prospect back in the deal and it's no big surprise that McGroarty needs AHL time.

 

[StreetHawk]

No reason to be so petulant, you guys got a good prospect back in the deal and it's no big surprise that McGroarty needs AHL time.

No surprise if both guys end up starting in the AHL. That is what it is there for. Only a small percentage of players walk right into the NHL at age 20.

It all goes back to why Rutger didn't want to sign in Winnipeg. If a reason is not playing in the A, well, that isn't going to happen unless you show the NHL club that you are worthy of being on the NHL roster. All a team will do is give you the opportunity to make the club and remain there.