Penguins' Young Defenseman Embraces 'Full Circle' NHL Moment

When Pittsburgh Penguins' defenseman Chase Pietila was around the age of 10 and beginning his road to professional hockey in Michigan, he was choosing his future career path and making friends with some of his very first teammates.

One of those teammates, as it turns out, was another kid aged 10-ish named Rutger McGroarty.

Back then, both played for Honeybaked and overlapped time on the same team in the Detroit area, and they went on to face each other as part of the U.S. National Team Development Program throughout junior hockey.

Now, they're playing in the same organization and sitting in the same locker room suiting up for the same NHL team.

“Yeah, I mean, it’s amazing," Pietila said. "It’s crazy just to see things go full-circle. You know, my first year in AAA, like, when I was really trying to say, “Ok, I really like hockey,” he was one of my first teammates. So, being able to play against him when he was at the program and I was in junior, and then never played against him in college, but then to meet here at the pro level, it’s super cool, and he’s an amazing guy.

"He’s a great friend. So, it makes it easy having him here. I always have someone to talk to, someone to ask questions. It’s been great.”

Of course, a lot has happened in the time since Pietila and McGroarty were teammates as kids. McGroarty went on to play for the University of Michigan and subsequently got drafted by the Winnipeg Jets, while Pietila played collegiate hockey at Michigan Tech, was selected 111th overall by the Penguins in 2024, and earned CCHA Defensive Defenseman of the Year honors for his 2024-25 NCAA campaign.

Both also experienced a pretty long Calder Cup Playoff run for the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton (WBS) Penguins in 2026. Pietila, 22, learned a lot from that experience.

The 6-foot-2, 202-pound right blueliner has always taken pride in the defensive side of his game, as he's solid and steady in his own zone and isn't afraid to play a physical brand of hockey. But from college, to the ECHL, to the AHL, and now to the NHL, he has come to understand that, in order to stick at the NHL level, versatility is paramount.

So, he has been working to add more offensive dimension to his repertoire.

"I’ll always say that my game starts from the net out, but being able to add offense and kind of be able to add to that part of my game will make me more valuable," Pietila said. "So, just working with all the skills coaches here, they’ve been great. Just trying to add more versatility to my game goes a long way."

And while that versatility is key, perhaps the most important lesson he learned during his first full AHL season last year and throughout the 14 games he played in the Calder Cup Playoffs is that consistency matters.

“I mean, it’s obviously the best league in the world," Pietila said. "[Consistency is] one of the things that I really tried to focus on last year that I struggled with a little bit, just being consistent and doing it day in and day out - practice, games, everything.

"If you want to play with the best, you have to be able to do it every day. So, I think that’s the biggest thing I’m trying to do and work on.”

Pietila is in the second season of the three-year entry-level contract he signed prior to the 2025-26 season, and he was recalled by the Penguins Saturday due to injuries piling up on both the forward front and the defensive unit at the NHL level. It has been a bit of a whirlwind, as has navigating fatherhood for the first time right when he is on the borderline of the NHL.

Luckily, sleep has not yet been an issue with his newborn son, but notwithstanding, there has been a lot of change. Something that has brought comfort, though, is the fact that, when he looks around the Penguins' locker room right now, there are some familiar faces in his old friend McGroarty, Avery Hayes, Sergei Murashov, and Ville Koivunen.

At the NHL level, the Penguins are in a bit of a transitional period with their roster. They have held onto some veterans but understand the need to inject youth.

Pietila knows firsthand how close this group of young players is and that the organization is largely counting on them to make some degree of impact on the future.

He is the only one of the five to have not played an NHL game yet, and he'll be ready for whenever the opportunity to suit up for the first time arrives. In any case, he hopes to be part of the group for a long time.

“I think it just helps with the youth that we have. We’re all similar ages and stuff, so we all like the same things," Pietila said. "Going to battle for one another for so long and just having that long of a playoff run, that just builds bonds you’ll never forget.

"So, being able to watch them succeed and being able to succeed with them is pretty special. It’s really fun, and we’re all enjoying it.”

Bookmark THN - Pittsburgh Penguins on your Google News tab to follow the latest Penguins news, roster moves, player features, and more!