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When requested about this weekend’s back-to-back preseason slate, Pittsburgh Penguins head coach Mike Sullivan stated that the rosters for every recreation could be totally different with, maybe, a number of carryovers.
A type of carryovers has seen the ice this preseason greater than every other participant.
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Penguins’ high prospect Rutger McGroarty, acquired from the Winnipeg Jets in a shocking summer trade that despatched former high prospect Brayden Yager to Winnipeg in trade, is the one participant on the Penguins’ coaching camp roster to be within the beginning lineup for each preseason recreation.
It is no secret that the Penguins’ group – from coaches to administration – are enthusiastic about what they’ve in McGroarty.
“We’re actually enthusiastic about him changing into a part of our group right here,” head coach Mike Sullivan stated after follow on Thursday. “He is acquired a excessive hockey IQ, he is a aggressive man, and I believe he makes numerous refined performs on the market which may go unnoticed to the informal fan. However we actually like his recreation. I believe he has the potential to be a very impactful participant for us.”
There are nonetheless some areas of enchancment that Sullivan want to see from McGroarty, most notably the “tempo of play” and the “power of the sport.” Up up to now, he has gotten the possibility to play alongside some NHL expertise in preseason video games – equivalent to Drew O’Connor and Cody Glass – however Sunday might be McGroarty’s first actual take a look at taking part in inside a predominantly NHL-focused lineup towards predominantly NHL-level competitors, one thing that hasn’t occurred suddenly for him but.
It stays to be seen if McGroarty will line up subsequent to one of many “huge guys” in Sidney Crosby or Evgeni Malkin, one thing that people have not but seen in coaching camp. Both approach, this weekend might act as a litmus take a look at for the teaching workers to see how effectively the 20-year-old winger handles the adjustment, particularly if he slots excessive within the lineup on Sunday.
Related: Here’s What the Final Penguins’ Roster Will Probably Look Like
And taking part in towards NHL competitors – and inside an NHL lineup – is one thing that McGroarty has been prepared for for the reason that onset of coaching camp. Sullivan and common supervisor and president of hockey operations Kyle Dubas have praised him for his excessive hockey IQ, and Sullivan has stated that McGroarty has the power to play a “velocity recreation” by way of the best way he thinks the sport.
McGroarty is aware of his hockey smarts are a power, and it comes by way of in his considerate solutions to questions. When requested if there’s the rest he desires to work on and present all through camp, he gave a cool, assured, detailed response.
Related: Penguins Training Camp Day 6: A Tale of Two Teams, Roster Cut to 52
“I might say simply persevering with to get snug with this degree,” McGroarty stated. “I really feel like I get extra snug… so simply persevering with to get higher and develop in that facet. And, then, simply little issues, little stick particulars, studying how one can get higher passes by way of. Clearly, these guys’ stick strain is approach higher than school hockey, so I might say simply totally different routes, totally different space passes, laying pucks off the boards, letting guys skate into it as a substitute of only a direct move, stuff like that.”
McGroarty is aware of what sort of participant he’s, and he additionally is aware of his recreation effectively sufficient to know what he is doing – and what he is not – when he is at his greatest. Whether or not a spot on the NHL roster is earned now by way of these preseason matchups or in a while this season by way of his work in Wilkes-Barre/Scranton, he’ll maintain working as onerous as he can to earn alternatives.
“I like hockey,” he stated. “It is my life, I encompass all the pieces round it, and I come into the rink with the identical power each single day. I significantly simply come to work each single day. So hopefully, I depart a very good impression in that facet.”
Related: Where does Rutger McGroarty fit in the Penguins’ lineup?
