Rutger McGroarty scored his second goal of the 2025-26 AHL season on Saturday.
Pittsburgh Penguins prospect Rutger McGroarty played in his second AHL game for Wilkes-Barre/Scranton on Saturday night since returning from an undisclosed injury.
The injury kept McGroarty out of training camp, the preseason, and the first month of the regular season before he returned to action in WBS on Nov. 15. He scored his first goal of the year in that game off a wicked deke in front of the net.
He played his second game of the season on Saturday and scored his second goal of the year. The goal came while the WBS Penguins were shorthanded, and it was a beauty. He was skating down the left side before cutting to the middle and making a beautiful move around a Providence Bruins skater. He finished the play off with a gorgeous move in front of the net.
It ended up being the game-winner as WBS secured a massive 1-0 win over the Bruins.
McGroarty made that look so easy, and he's carrying the momentum that he had at the end of last season into this season. He had his second stint with the big club at the end of the 2024-25 season, and it went much better than his first stint did at the beginning of the season. He scored his first NHL goal with the Penguins on Apr. 3 against the St. Louis Blues and added two assists down the stretch.
McGroarty didn't look out of place with Penguins captain Sidney Crosby last year, but even if there's not a spot for him on the top line when he eventually comes up later this year, he could still slot into a spot on the third line. First-round pick Benjamin Kindel is still the third-line center and has been carrying his own line in just about every game he has played in so far.
Getting to see him and McGroarty play together would be a ton of fun. Heck, Penguins head coach Dan Muse could even opt to put Ville Koivunen in the other winger spot to have an all "kids" third line once he gets healthy.
McGroarty looked NHL-ready going into the year before he got hurt. Now, he's working his way back, and if he keeps this up, it won't be long until he's back playing meaningful NHL minutes with the big club.
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