Heading into the 2025-26 season, the Pittsburgh Penguins have shifted the focus to youth and development.
With more talent in the system than Pittsburgh has had in years – and 13 picks in the 2025 NHL Draft – top prospects lists are becoming more competitive and more difficult to discern. Since the prospect pool is deepening, The Hockey News – Pittsburgh Penguins takes a look at the top-20 prospects in the organization.
This may be subjective, but it does seem like the Penguins have a pretty clear-cut top-three at this point in time. Really, any one of them could be Nos. 1, 2, or 3, and that is reflected on a lot of Penguins’ prospect rankings.
For THN – Pittsburgh’s No. 3, we have Rutger McGroarty, who has made significant strides since his acquisition last summer – and who figures to be a key part of the Penguins’ future plans.
About those other Penguins’ prospect rankings? To be honest, many of them still have McGroarty at No. 1, and for good reason.
The 21-year-old forward was acquired from the Winnipeg Jets in August of 2024, and it cost the Penguins their top prospect at the time in Brayden Yager. The price was high for McGroarty – even if he wanted out of Winnipeg – and many were a little bit wary of how that trade would pan out for the Penguins.
Of course, it’s still early, and both McGroarty and Yager will, hopefully, have long NHL careers ahead. But the Penguins probably got the better prospect out of the deal, and he’s the kind of player that every contending team would want to have in their top-six.
What Are Realistic Expectations For McGroarty And Koivunen This Year?
The Pittsburgh Penguins have a pretty decent forward group entering the 2025-26 season, especially if they don’t make any trades between now and October 7, when they open the regular season against the New York Rangers.
McGroarty actually broke the NHL roster out of training camp last season due to a strong showing and some circumstantial factors with injuries. He played in only three games before being re-assigned to the AHL, and in those three games, he looked a step behind in his skating and in his reads.
Then, he wasn’t NHL-ready. He also had a relatively slow start to his AHL career, and things didn’t pick up for him down in Wilkes-Barre/Scranton (WBS) until the second half. Although it was building up to something all season long, it was in his final stretch of AHL games – when he recored eight goals and 18 points in his last 19 games – that McGroarty earned another look at the NHL level.
And it was brief, but he did not disappoint.
Playing alongside Sidney Crosby before a lower-body injury – resulting from a blocked shot – ended his season, McGroarty put up a goal and three points and displayed natural chemistry with the Penguins’ captain. His skating and first step was much-improved, he made some ridiculous and instinctual passes, and he was counted upon late in games when the Penguins had it all on the line.
Pittsburgh Penguins (@penguins) on X
Sidney Crosby has TEN goals and 18 points over his 12-game point streak 🔥
He passed with flying colors the second time around, and his performance in those last five games should – barring a disastrous training camp – earn him a permanent spot on the NHL roster next season. McGroarty seems to have so many details and intangibles already interwoven in his game, and he has a hockey sense that one simply can’t teach. He’s also a natural leader and locker room presence, which isn’t something often said about a young guy just breaking into the league.
It’s hard to say exactly how high McGroarty’s ceiling is. The Jets’ 14th overall pick in 2022 certainly has offensive upside, and it may take a few seasons for him to really hit his full potential. That said, his 200-foot game is already well-rounded. He doesn’t shy away from contact, he excels in transition with his vision, and he anticipates on both ends of the ice.
At the very least, he should be a very effective third-line winger for the Penguins going forward, but it’s completely justifiable to expect him to exceed that. The fact that he meshed so well so instantly with one of the smartest – if not the smartest – players in hockey history says a lot, and if he continues to get top-six deployment with either Crosby or Evgeni Malkin in Pittsburgh, the sky is the limit.
McGroarty may not be a franchise cornerstone piece, but he figures to be a very important complementary piece of the puzzle going forward for the Penguins. Hopefully, he only continues to build on what has already been an impressive start to his professional career.
Top-20 Penguins’ Prospects 2025: First-Round Pick Has Star Potential
Heading into the 2025-26 season, the Pittsburgh Penguins have shifted the focus to youth and development.
The list so far:
– No. 5: G Sergei Murashov
– No. 6: D Owen Pickering
– No. 7: F Tanner Howe
– No. 8: G Arturs Silovs
– No. 9: G Joel Blomqvist
– No. 10: F Tristan Broz
– No. 11: F Will Horcoff
– No. 12: F Mikhail Ilyin
– No. 13 F Filip Hallander
– No. 14: F Bill Zonnon
– No. 15: F Melvin Fernstrom
– No. 16: D Emil Pieniniemi
– No. 17: F Avery Hayes
– No. 18: F Cruz Lucius
– No. 19: D Finn Harding
– No. 20: D Peyton Kettles
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