Now, see, that's what I'm talking about.
Kyle Dubas, still killing it amid the summer of 2024 that he really should've had in the summer of 2023, continued to show today that the Penguins can reload around the remainder of Sidney Crosby's career while getting younger at the NHL level in an elegant one-for-one trade of elite forward prospects, acquiring University of Michigan and United States national team star Rutger McGroarty from the Jets in exchange for Brayden Yager.
After which McGroarty was signed to a three-year, entry-level contract that'll pay $855,000 in salary, plus a signing bonus of $95,000.
“We had a difficult decision to make with this trade because we hold Brayden in such a high regard as a person and prospect," Dubas would say via statement once the deal was done at 2:45 p.m. "After much consideration, we decided that the opportunity to add Rutger was ultimately in the best interest of the Penguins. He possesses the combination of ability, leadership and competitiveness that the Penguins need to achieve our goals in the short and long run. We look forward to welcoming Rutger and his family to the city of Pittsburgh and the Penguins.”
Which one's better?
Time will tell, obviously, though there's a case to be made already in McGroarty's favor, and I'll get to that below.
Which one's readier?
That couldn't be clearer.
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McGroarty turned 20 in March, Yager 19 in January. McGroarty was the 14th overall pick in the 2022 NHL Draft, Yager the 14th overall pick in the 2023 NHL Draft. And what's more, McGroarty's 6-foot-1, 205-pound frame has been seen as NHL-capable for two years, whereas the principal reason Yager wasn't about to crack the Pittsburgh roster this fall was that his 5-11, 179 frame still needs another 10-15 pounds, at minimum.
And really, that single point can't be overstated from the Pittsburgh perspective. Because, as I'd been pounding for ... wow, ever since Dubas took the post and even beforehand, the urgency in these parts should've always been to surround Sid with as much young, fresh, dynamic talent as possible ... while recognizing, of course, that he's 37 and can't hang on forever.
This, my friends, is the way. Or, at least, one of the ways.
Just as Dubas was miles off in overpaying a slew of 30-something Noel Acciari and Matt Nieto types in 2023, he's been dead-on in crafting a training camp competition overpopulated by 20-something Anthony Beauvillier and Cody Glass types. They aren't young, necessarily, and they aren't prospects. But they're still operating with peak legs and, due to adversity in some instances, peak motivation. And I don't need to tell anyone reading this far into a hockey column in August that the 2023-24 Penguins weren't exactly overflowing with peak legs/motivation.
In this scenario, Sid, Evgeni Malkin, Erik Karlsson, Kris Letang, Bryan Rust, Marcus Pettersson and company can keep doing their thing -- and all concerned remain both competitive and productive, by the way, though that's been mostly buried by a moribund supporting cast -- while all the energy, physical and otherwise, rises up from underneath. The Core can still play. What they can't do is carry all kinds of zeroes.
Oh, and along the way, Dubas has accumulated other prospects who'll likely be ready sooner rather than later, chiefly from the Jake Guentzel trade, plus seven -- count 'em, seven -- draft picks toward future classes.
Love it. Conceptually, I couldn't love all this more than I do.
As for the trade itself ...
We've covered Yager exhaustively for two years, so I couldn't add much. He's a terrific kid, and his main trait is the one that'll always be the most coveted in hockey, in that he can finish. Really finish. I've compared him to a baby-faced Daniel Briere, albeit with more of a shooting range and a bit more playmaking. Once he makes it to Winnipeg, especially because he's defensively conscientious, he'll be a fine fit for how the Jets play and add to an already deep scoring well.
But I'll reiterate: He wasn't about to break through in the near-term future. As the Devils once found out with a far greater talent in Jack Hughes, the NHL's no place for skinny rookies. They get ragdolled or, worse, they get hurt. And though Yager's grown as a player over the past year, the frame's stayed largely unchanged.
McGroarty doesn't have that issue.
This is the most complete video collection I could find of his work over the past calendar, both at Michigan and with the U.S. in the most recent World Junior Championships in Sweden:
See what I mean about the frame?
He's not the swiftest of skaters -- though he's been addressing that with noted instructor Barb Underhill for three straight summers, I'm told by a source in Winnipeg -- but there's a strength to the stride, and there's a big-time strength that's been shown in other ways:
HUGE hit by Rutger McGroarty 😳#WorldJuniors pic.twitter.com/Mflk7OpKx9
— TSN (@TSN_Sports) January 5, 2024
Yeah, that won't play in Pittsburgh at all, huh?
He's sturdy, too, and eager to get to the net, the source added. Been that way his whole hockey life.
McGroarty's completed two years of NCAA hockey at Michigan, in addition to captaining the United States’ gold-medal team at the World Juniors. He had 16 goals and 36 assists in 36 games at Michigan this past season, and he had five goals and four assists in seven games at the World Juniors. As such, he and his agent, Pat Brisson, had been convinced he was ready for full-time work in Winnipeg, a stance that apparently wasn't shared by Kevin Cheveldayoff, the Jets' general manager.
Thus, beginning two months ago at the most recent NHL Draft, there were rumbles that McGroarty wouldn't sign with the Jets and, in turn, he'd force them to trade him or lose his rights for nothing.
Why?
Per the source in Winnipeg, he'd seen some of his college buddies making instant impacts in the NHL, and he'd seen the Jets making a 19-goal youngster in Cole Perfetti a healthy scratch, and that made him doubt if he'd get a chance anytime soon. More whispers in his ear led to more whispers in his ear, and that was that.
In a conference call with the Manitoba media today, the only reason Cheveldayoff would cite for McGroarty's call was that he and Brisson would tell him repeatedly, "It just didn't feel right."
So, Cheveldayoff entertained offers from the draft onward and, eventually, agreed with Dubas to a straight-up swap of each system's top prospects.
Which doesn't, of course, make them equal.
Some condensed advanced analytics strongly suggest that there's more to like in McGroarty's projectability, this from JFreshHockey:
J FRESH HOCKEY
J FRESH HOCKEY
Here's an in-depth profile by my longtime pal Mike McIntyre at the Winnipeg Free Press, published in April. Speaks to what McGroarty brings as a person.
And here's a hockey-based analysis from Chris Peters, prospect expert at FloHockey, upon which he concludes: "If you ask, between the two prospects, which I prefer, I'd probably lean McGroarty, as he has a bit more versatility, and I think he brings a hard-nosed element that'll be helpful in Pittsburgh. That said, you could make a strong case that Yager has the greater overall offensive upside and could be a more productive player over his career."
Again, time will tell.
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What's it mean for the 2024-25 Penguins?
Yeah, I'm thinking that way, as well. Can't help it, if only because, if one presumes the figurative window hasn't already slammed shut after missing the past two Stanley Cup playoffs, it'll sure be shutting soon. For Sid, Geno and company, anyway, there'll be another two years, three at the absolute most.
As I see it, this acquisition adds, at its most optimal, a top-six possibility to supplant Drew O'Connor or Michael Bunting on the left side. At its most reasonable, it's bottom-six depth that affords the opportunity to slide up the chart when ready. Like the earliest NHL version of Rust. Whichever way it'd play out, both would be welcome.
And an audition alongside Sid?
Hey, I can't be convinced that Brisson's mutual representation could be a coincidence.
But it also adds an intangible that I dare say this franchise and its fan base need as much as any intangible's been needed in some time: Hope.
No, really, there's been a funeral feel about everything related to the Penguins for far too long, and it was going to take something of this scope to change that course. The Guentzel trade wasn't going to do that because Jake was so loved here. This can. This'll be the first richly anticipated new face on this front in forever. This'll be a player that people can appreciate without cringing over how soon he'll be done.
Imagine Cranberry being a blast again.
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