Rutger McGroarty's latest move hints at a bigger Penguins decision

The move is official again, Rutger McGroarty is headed back to Wilkes-Barre/Scranton after Pittsburgh activated him and then assigned him to the AHL.

That quick trigger tells you the NHL lineup is crowded and the patience clock is real.

McGroarty is 21, a 2022 first-rounder, 14th overall, drafted by the Winnipeg Jets, and he still looks like a future top-six winger when his game is on.

The problem is his season has been choppy, including time missed after a concussion.

This is also a weird year in Pittsburgh, because the Penguins are not limping along in the standings.

They are sitting at 22-14-12, and when your veteran core is pushing, coaches tend to trust the known quantities.

In his NHL minutes this season, McGroarty has 2 G, 1 A, 3 P, and he is averaging 12:13 TOI.

That is the profile of a young winger getting third-line work, not the top-six runway he needs to find scoring rhythm.

As a fan, this one lands somewhere between annoyed and relieved, because you want the kid playing every night instead of watching with a suit.

The AHL is where he can get back to being the puck-touch guy, first unit on the man advantage, net-front reps, and late-game shifts when you are protecting a lead.

If Pittsburgh truly has surprising forward depth, then the only smart counter is big minutes in Wilkes-Barre.

The bigger takeaway for me is this is not a «bad prospect» story, it is a usage story.

When you are 21 and still learning NHL pace, you either get sheltered minutes or you get sent down to drive a line.

If McGroarty strings together healthy weeks and starts forcing the issue, the next recall feels less like an experiment and more like an answer.

Either way, the next milestone is simple, dominate down there, then kick the door again before the stretch run.

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