The Penguins ruled out a rookie for the rest of the season, but he made sure Pittsburgh fans were guaranteed to see him take the ice next season.
Rutger McGroarty suffered a lower-body injury and won’t play in the Penguins’ final games of the regular season. It would take a deep Calder Cup run for him to return to Wilkes-Barre/Scranton. However, McGroarty was all smiles when he spoke to fans to renew their season tickets.
The Penguins released a video Friday of the 21-year-old in the team’s office working the phones and chatting with fans.
“It was really cool. Obviously, it was my birthday, and I got to be on a line with (Sidney Crosby), so that was really cool,” McGroarty told a fan, per the Penguins. “Sid and (Bryan Rust) so that was really cool.”
The clips from the video showed the 2022 first-round pick having casual conversations with fans as they tried to renew their season tickets. One video showed McGroarty securing a verbal commitment from a fan with the Pittsburgh sales team watching.
Fans got to see more of a casual side of McGroarty, and they hope to see more of the promising prospect next season when he’s back at full strength. McGroarty scored one goal and tallied three assists for three points in eight games with the Penguins.
Featured image via Charles LeClaire/Imagn Images