Breaking: Bad News for McGroarty, Other Penguins Injuries
Now we know why the Pittsburgh Penguins recalled three forwards from the AHL on Thursday. Five other forwards are out for the season — keeping in mind that there are only three games left.
Rookie Rutger McGroarty, Noel Acciari, Blake Lizotte, Matt Nieto and Tommy Novak won’t play in the final week of the season because of injuries, coach Mike Sullivan said after the team practiced at the UPMC Lemieux Sports Complex. None of the five practiced Thursday. The Penguins have been eliminated from playoff contention.
Sullivan said there was no indication at this point that any of them will require surgery.
Perhaps the biggest news is that McGroarty will be out for an unknown period of time. He left Tuesday’s game against Chicago after blocking a shot with his left foot.
The balancing news is that McGroarty might still play this season. AHL affiliate Wilkes-Barre/Scranton has qualified for the Calder Cup playoffs, and playing in that postseason atmosphere certainly could help McGroarty, who is arguably the team’s top prospect. He played in eight NHL games split between early in the season and recently, with a goal and two assists.
Of course, playing in even three more NHL games might have helped his development.
“It’s disappointing because he was playing real well, and we thought it was a great experience for him to get NHL games,” Sullivan said of McGroarty. “We’re hopeful that Rutger’s injury will come around. We’re hopeful that Wilkes-Barre will play long enough that he has an opportunity to help them continue to have success down there. That’s an important experience for as well.”
Categorized:Penguins News
Disappointed they aren’t giving Poulin a shot. I think we’ve seen Bemstrom enough at this point.
With Bemstrom’s performance thus far at the NHL level, not calling up Poulin speaks volumes about what the Penguins think of him. He’s had several chances at the NHL level and has never really impressed. The one thing I wish we had seen was putting him as a net front presence for the power play. It is something he could have excelled at.
Agreed. It suggests he’s further down the depth chart. He has had some bad luck with injuries and prior call-ups. But he had a point streak there for a bit in WBS. The whole fourth line is out. Putting Poulin there rather than Bemstrom seems logical to me. That said, I am glad Puustinen is getting a final look. Though I suspect his time in the organization is similarly numbered.
I also agree about poulin but I am intrigued to see the players called up. The 4th line is all younger players and now we have 5 total playing in the nhl. Maybe this relaxes them and the 4th line can go off, even in limited minutes!
Right, he put Heinen on the 2nd line-so typical of Sully!!!
While Nieto did nothing for the Pens, still a good player for WB and their playoff run. That team won’t be going far now.
All of the players will go back for the playoffs
Except McGroarty!!!
w Dave going up to the Hershey games, he can buy Sam a drink & get his story too