Penguins Rookie Projections for McGoarty, Koivunen, & Pickering

For the gray-inducing, head-shaking context, there will be a trio of Pittsburgh Penguins rookies in the lineup this season. Rutger McGroarty, Ville Koivunen, and Owen Pickering are players who were literally in diapers when Sidney Crosby began his NHL career, playing one half-season with Mario Lemieux on the imploding 2005-06 Penguins.

For everything, there is a season.

The cyclical nature of the Penguins‘ introducing rookies into the lineup just as the organization did beginning 20 years ago, when Crosby and Marc-Andre Fleury began the flood of rookies and young players who revitalized the franchise.

Crosby exploded onto the scene, drawing criticism for his complaints to officials (the old guard did not welcome his arrival), and scoring 100 points. Evgeni Malkin won the Calder Trophy in the 2006-07 season, and the Penguins were off to the races.

However, this time is different. The team will not be poor and fighting for a new arena, regardless of who will be the Penguins owner by season’s end. And the first wave of the Penguins’ rookies is not projected to produce one of the greatest players of all time, let alone two.

With all due respect.

With some measure of intrigue, the Penguins’ rookie forwards McGroarty and Koivunen are not part of the already full NHL roster on Puckpedia.com. They will have to earn their way onto the big club, but after last season’s showing and the team’s stated bend toward youth, is there any doubt they’ll be there on opening night?

Penguins Projections

Ville Koivunen. The silent assassin.

Projecting Koivunen is dangerous business because the smiling Finnish winger exploded in his third season in the Liiga and hasn’t looked back, yet he was not among the top prospects that Carolina deemed off-limits in the Jake Guentzel trade at the 2024 trade deadline.

Koivuen’s teammates at the NHL level were immediately impressed after his NHL debut in the final weeks of last season. Sure, teammates said the right things on the record, but it was off the record that a couple expressed genuine surprise at how good Koivunen could be.

“He’s sick,” one said to PHN late in the season.

Koivunen, 22, had seven assists in his first eight NHL games. He was not out of place on either Crosby’s or Malkin’s line, adding to the unit’s success rather than living off of it.

Yet he still needs his first NHL goal. That should be a fun focal point for his linemates this season.

Koivunen is a scoring winger, though we suspect he won’t get much top power play time, so his production will be PP2 and even strength.

Projection: 18 goals, 50 points.

Rutger McGroarty

There will be a fun game this season when the Penguins face the Winnipeg Jets in Winnipeg. McGroarty was the 14th overall pick by Winnipeg in 2022, but spurned Winnipeg and informed them he wouldn’t sign, opting to remain at the University of Michigan until they traded him.

That trade happened last summer when Penguins GM Kyle Dubas made an even swap of 14th overall picks, acquiring McGroarty for the Penguins’ 2023 14th overall pick, Brayden Yager.

Last season, as McGroarty honed his craft with the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins of the AHL, Winnipeg fans jeered the Penguins with chants of, “Where is Rutger?”

They will almost assuredly see him firsthand in an NHL sweater this season.

Last season, injuries to veteran players opened a spot on opening night for McGroarty, but he wasn’t ready to contribute, and the Penguins demoted him to the AHL after only a few games.

He told PHN last spring, “I was surviving, not thriving.”

After a season of working on his skating, he was noticeably quicker. After a season in the gym, he was noticeably stronger. And he was truly ready for his NHL lights, until he blocked a shot five games into his second stint (which coincided with Koivunen’s NHL recall) and suffered a season-ending leg injury.

Make no mistake, McGroarty is a playmaking winger but also has a strong defensive game. He’s a complete two-way player, so he may find himself in more defensive situations than Koivunen.

McGroarty was a top penalty killer in WBS last season, and one might expect him to adopt some of that role in the NHL, too.

Projection: 15 goals, 45 points. Countless bruises.

Owen Pickering

The big man who was still growing last year with the Crosby-aided haircut. The lefty defenseman with a big reach, big hockey IQ, quick learning, and an all-around game.

The Penguins’ first-round pick in 2022 (21st overall) played 25 NHL games last season, barely preserving his rookie status. He was baptized by fire, playing some top-pair minutes with Kris Letang and some minutes with Erik Karlsson.

His play began to take a step backward in January, and the organization quickly ushered him back to the AHL. That shouldn’t happen again this season.

He needs to be more physical and more assertive, but all of the tools were visible last season. Oh, there will be struggles. And then a few more struggles.

Playing on the Penguins’ blue line is kind of like being the person responsible for giving a dictator bad news; you’re surrounded by bad news, and it’s not long before it’s your fault.

Pickering will have the toughest challenge keeping his head above water and sticking in the NHL. The Penguins have a plethora of defensemen, including at least four left-handers.

However, Pickering has proven to be a fast learner and a popular teammate with the younger set. Unless he plays his way out of a job, he’ll be a full-timer this season.

Perhaps new coach Dan Muse and assistant Mike Stothers, a positive and big personality, will connect with Pickering and ease some of the burden. Confidence might be Pickering’s weak spot.

Projection: Full season. Three goals. 15 points. Respect.

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Penguins Rookie Projections for McGoarty, Koivunen, & Pickering

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