Forward Rutger McGroarty was at the centre of a lot of prospect discussion this summer, as he was traded from Winnipeg to Pittsburgh. I sat down with him this week to talk about growing up playing hockey in Nebraska, his time at the University of Michigan, and his experience of being a pro hockey player thus far.
Who Is Rutger McGroarty?
McGroarty is a former first round draft pick currently playing for the Wilkes-Barre Scranton Penguins of the AHL. Coming off a sophomore season at Michigan where he had 50 points in 35 games, McGroarty considers himself an emotional player in the best kind of way. He wears his heart on his sleeve, and he has a knack for showing up exactly when his team needs him to.
When asked for the scouting report on himself, McGroarty said that he works hard, he competes, and his game is at it’s best when he’s working down below the faceoff dots, getting his stick in lanes, and getting to the net. He considers himself good defensively, and on the forecheck. When looking at players in the NHL currently, McGroarty wants to be like the Tkachuk brothers, Matthew and Brady.
I just look at Their brains, their compete, their leadership. if i could be something like them one day, that would be incredible.
McGroarty on what aspects of the Tkachuk brothers he most wants to embody
When it comes down to it though, the most important part of McGroarty’s game seems to be all mental. His most valuable skill is the emotion he mentioned before; his ability to show up in big games. He’s also proud of his consistency; coaches and teammates know what they’re getting in McGroarty every time he shows up to the rink.
Hockey In Nebraska?
When McGroarty was drafted 14th overall by the Winnipeg Jets in 2022, he became the highest drafted player ever born in Nebraska (beating out previous record holder Jake Guentzel, who was drafted 77th overall in 2013). He also became the first Nebraskan-born player to play for the USNTDP. But how do you get from Nebraska to the AHL?
McGroarty’s father is Jim McGroarty, former professional player and then head coach and GM of the USHL’s Lincoln Stars. McGroarty and his childhood friends essentially had free run of the rink, and from the ages of 6 to 16 (when McGroarty moved to Michigan to join the NTDP), they couldn’t be kept off the ice.
Obviously, Nebraska is a pretty small hockey market, but i wouldn’t have it any other way
McGroarty, on growing up in Lincoln, NE
#2 On The Ice, #1 In The Heart
The Lincoln Stars would turn out to be a formative experience for the young McGroarty, who spent most of his childhood at the rink with his father, including on game days and practices. In fact, the locker room of the Lincoln Stars is where McGroarty’s jersey number comes from. Wearing #2 is unusual for a forward; in the 24-25 season, there are 14 players who wear #2, and 12 of them are defencemen.
McGroarty’s choice to wear 2 comes all the way back to the 07-08 and 08-09 seasons, when the Lincoln Stars had a player named Mike Dalhuisen. From Nijmegen, Netherlands, Dalhuisen played 92 games over the two seasons he was with the Stars, and registered 267 penalty minutes. Dalhuisen wore #2, and his treatment of the young McGroarty has stuck with him ever since.
In a junior locker room, the last thing those guys want to do is talk to the coach’s kid, right? But every day, he and i would hang out. He was unbelievable. if i could be that to some kid one day, it would be incredible.
McGroarty, on Dalhuisen’s influence on him.
Dalhuisen never made the NHL; he had a cup of coffee with a handful of AHL teams, and now plays third tier hockey in Germany at the age of 35. But as a teenager in Nebraska in 2007, he made enough of an impact on someone’s life that they still wear his number over 15 years later, which is a pretty cool impact to have on someone’s life.
McGroarty takes that lesson into his pro career, as well.
That’s something i learned from him: treat the kids well, and one day they might turn out to be a great player, and you had an impact on their hockey career
McGroarty on what he learned from his early friendship with Dalhuisen
From NE to MI
McGroarty joined the USNTDP (US National Team Development Program) as a 16 year old, when he got his first taste of the NHL being a possibility. One of his first games there was an exhibition game against the Green Bay Gamblers, led at the time by Mason Lohrei (a 2020 draft pick of the Boston Bruins). Playing hockey against NHL prospects made McGroarty realise that the draft could be in his future. He finished his rookie season with 41 points in 53 games, and never looked back. The next year was even better: 69 points in 54 games, and from there, to the University of Michigan.
But Why Michigan?
When McGroarty was around 14, he committed to the University of Notre Dame. What changed?
Well, the University of Michigan boasts some substantial NHL pedigree. It’s widely considered one of the best NCAA programs for D1 hockey in the country. Since the 2020 draft, 10 players from their program have been drafted in the first round of the NHL draft, and 17 players in total, including a player in each of the first five spots of the draft (Owen Power, 1st overall in 2021, Matty Beniers, 2nd overall in 2021, Adam Fantilli, 3rd overall in 2022, Luke Hughes, 4th overall in 2021 and Kent Johnson, 5th overall in 2021).
Every year, they challenge for the top of the Big 10 conference, and are almost always in the conversation for the Frozen Four and the National Championship.
He was part of the same recruiting class as the Fantilli brothers (Luca and Adam), Seamus Casey, Frank Nazar, Gavin Brindley, Dylan Duke and Mackie Samoskevitch, and the opportunity was just something he couldn’t turn down.
it was the closest i could get to still playing for the NDTP. it was a no brainer.
McGroarty on deciding to go to Michigan instead of Notre Dame
McGroarty describes the University of Michigan as the best years of his life (something we’ve heard before, from fellow Michigan alum Thomas Bordeleau). The way the University of Michigan treats its players is like no other NCAA or major junior team in the way the alumna talk about it; McGroarty smiles as wide as he possibly can when the conversation turns to his time as a Wolverine. He actually stumbles over his words at times, trying to get as many positive things out about Michigan as he possibly can; the culture, the hockey, the people, it’s all exactly what McGroarty wanted and more out of his college hockey experience.
It’s cheesy, but the school spirit and the pride that we have is like no other […] we do it for the school and the fans and our brothers next to us. i loved every second of it.
McGroarty on his time at the University of Michigan
Arriving In Wilke-Barre/Scranton
McGroarty was the subject of a lot of internet discourse this summer; with rumours that he refused to sign with the Jets unless they guaranteed him NHL time, not AHL. He would end up being traded to Pittsburgh, where he signed his ELC, and has since been sent down to the Penguins AHL affiliate in Wilkes-Barre/Scranton, where he’s played 9 games so far.
The jump from college or major junior to pro is huge; much bigger than the average fan realises, I think. While McGroarty isn’t putting up points right now, he’s focused on making his game better every single day, and he’s revelling in the experience of bring a pro, comparing the Penguins organisation to all the best things about Michigan.
It’s such a tight knit organisation, the culture here is phenomenal. we’re on the ice every day, we’re all in the weight room getting better every single day.
McGroarty on his experience of the WBS Penguins organisation so far
What’s Next?
McGroarty’s in the AHL now, and while the goal is obviously the NHL, it’s bigger than that. McGroarty knows what he has to do to keep getting better. He’s working on his craft every day, just trying to bear down on every puck, to get used to the speed and size of AHL players and trying to learn how to beat a new calibre of goalie.
When players turn pro, suddenly all the time and space they had in college and in the CHL disappears. Re-learning that you have more time than you think when you have the puck is a tough lesson to learn. McGroarty’s working on it. He’ll get there. That first pro goal arrived earlier this week against the Rochester Americans. He’s going to make sure it’s the first of many.
