It seems weird to me that a college player would really feel in a position to ask for promises in terms of playing time? I mean, unless you're a really top prospect, like Celebrini and Smith and guys who are picked right at the top of the draft and so on. It seems more likely to me that a guy like McGroarty's ask would be more along the lines of "well, if I'm going to leave college after just 2 years, why should I do it just to play in the AHL", which isn't at all an uncommon position for NCAA players to take?
The Jets have his rights until August 2026, there doesn't seem to be any big rush here. If they want to try to sign McGroarty after his junior NCAA season ends next year, the typical route is yeah, sign him, he plays a game or two at the end of the season, burns an ELC year, and then is on the normal path to earning a spot that everybody is on after that. So I'm not really sure why it has suddenly become any big deal that a college prospect doesn't want to sign in the off-season after his sophomore year?