Tim Benz: Penguins-Jets swap of 1st-rounders is as practical as it may be unconventional

On Thursday, a Pittsburgh team pulled off a trade-and-sign deal with a former first-round pick out west who was balking at a contract with his former club.

But it wasn’t for Brandon Aiyuk.

It wasn’t even the Steelers who made the trade.

It was the Penguins who acquired Winnipeg Jets winger Rutger McGroarty. He’s a 2022 first-round pick out of Michigan and the U.S. National Development Team who never signed with the Jets.

Selected No. 14 overall in the 2022 draft, McGroarty was acquired by Penguins general manager Kyle Dubas for Brayden Yager, Pittsburgh’s No. 14 pick in the 2023 draft.

Yager had already signed with Pittsburgh. His contract moves to the Jets. The Penguins signed McGroarty to a three-year entry-level contract immediately upon acquiring his rights, according to PuckPedia. Both players will carry a cap charge of $950,000 at the NHL level.

It’s not often in the NHL that a first-round prospect is dealt for another first-rounder before either player touches the ice for their original club. But this trade, which was engineered by Dubas and Jets general manager Kevin Cheveldayoff, is every bit as practical as it may be unconventional.

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McGroarty didn’t want to play with Winnipeg. He wasn’t going to sign. He was set to go to Michigan for a third year. Via “The Hockey News,” McGroarty didn’t like the Jets’ reputation for stashing prospects in the minors. If he was going to sign, he wanted to play with the NHL club. He didn’t want to start his professional career with the Manitoba Moose as the Jets were planning.

He’s also an American who may not have been thrilled at the prospect of playing Winnipeg through his early 20s.

The Penguins need wings with a scoring touch. McGroarty has that. Over the past four years with Michigan, the American National Team, and the U.S. National Development squad, McGroarty has played 100 games, tallying 48 goals and 116 points.

It’s likely that McGroarty will slot in somewhere on the Pens’ top 9 in 2024-25 and very well may even be a candidate to play with Sidney Crosby and Bryan Rust. The 6-foot-1, 205-pounder from Nebraska is believed to have more grind and physicality to his game than Yager.

HUGE hit by Rutger McGroarty ????#WorldJuniors pic.twitter.com/Mflk7OpKx9

— TSN (@TSN_Sports) January 5, 2024

He’s also said to be useful on the power play. But his skating may have to pick up if he is going to play with Rust and Crosby.

The Athletic’s Scott Wheeler has McGroarty as the 33rd overall drafted NHL prospect. Yager is 58th. Here is his assessment of McGroarty.

“He’s a better skater (it doesn’t look the prettiest through his first few steps, but there’s some power when he gets going nonetheless) than he gets credit for and his spatial awareness, reads and effort level help him avoid losing short races. He’s got great hands and feel on the puck as a passer. His finishing touch around the net is there in spades, with a hard one-touch shot that he leverages his strong frame to power through when he gets open in the slot. He has always been a sneaky-good facilitator who passes the puck really well and can hold it.”

WELCOME TO PITTSBURGH RUTGER MCGROARTY ! ????

McGroarty is a 6’1 200 right winger who captained team USA at the WJC last year.

NCAA :
36 GP - 16 Goals - 52 Points
WJC-20:
7 GP - 5 Goals - 9 Points pic.twitter.com/vBsULHFXOa

— Mario LeCrosGoat (@MarioLeGoat) August 22, 2024

Meanwhile, Yager, projects as a top-six center. While highly valued by the Penguins, with Evgeni Malkin here for two more years, the Moose Jaw Warriors standout was either going to be displaced to the wing or sentenced to play with bottom-six wingers until Malkin retires.

Whether any of us thinks that makes sense or not.

Maybe Yager’s path will be less blocked in Winnipeg. Or, at the very least, unlike McGroarty, he’ll show up. A native of Saskatchewan, Yager may not be put off by the idea of playing a lot of his games in Winnipeg, Edmonton, Calgary and Vancouver.

When you hear the phrase “good old-fashioned hockey trade,” you think about established NHL veterans. You think of a glitzy, high-scoring winger going to an offensively-starved team in exchange for a strong, 6-foot-3 stay-at-home defenseman that can help a team that needs some sandpaper.

You think James Neal for Patric Hornqvist. You think of moving Mark Recchi and Paul Coffey for Rick Tocchet, Ken Wregget and Kjell Samuelsson. You think John Cullen, Zarley Zalapski and Jeff Parker for Ron Francis, Ulf Samuelsson and Grant Jennings.

You don’t think “No. 1 pick for No. 1 pick” before either one turns 21 years old.

But this was out-of-the-box thinking for two players who were essentially boxed in by their current circumstances and checked a lot of boxes in their new locker rooms.

My bet is that the swap will wind up being a thumbs-up transaction in both cities.