Pittsburgh Penguins’ top prospect Rutger McGroarty was assigned to Wilkes-Barre/Scranton, Pittsburgh’s AHL affiliate, the team announced Wednesday.
The forward made the team out of training camp and appeared in the first three games of the season before being a healthy scratch on Monday in Montreal in favor of Jesse Puljujarvi. McGroarty did not register a point in those three games.
From a logistical perspective, the move makes sense. No other player has played their way out of a spot in the starting lineup at this point, and the team probably wants the 20-year-old forward to get as much ice time as possible in professional hockey.
Injuries to forwards Bryan Rust and Blake Lizotte opened the door for McGroarty to break the roster out of training camp. During the pre-season, he stood out in a third line role alongside Lars Eller and Puljujarvi, and he registered a goal and two assists in the final pre-season game against Detroit.
Related: Penguins’ Top Prospect McGroarty Carving Out New Role
Given the rookie’s camp, McGroarty figures to be one of the first forward call-ups from the AHL. He and Vasily Ponomarev remained with the team into the regular season, but Ponomarev is currently on injured reserve with an upper-body injury.
He, Lizotte, and goaltender Alex Nedeljkovic all skated this morning and are considered “status quo” by head coach Mike Sullivan.
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