Here Come the Kids! Penguins Recall McGroarty and Koivunen

anagThe Pittsburgh Penguins’ rebuild took another step Friday morning when the team announced that they recalled a pair of their prized forward prospects. Rutger McGroarty and Ville Koivunen got the call-up Friday after the Penguins were embarrassed Thursday night by the Buffalo Sabres 7-3.

McGroarty will resume his NHL career, which started with a few games played in October. Koivunen, who was the top prospect acquired in the Jake Guentzel trade in March 2024, is poised to make his NHL debut.

Read more on McGroarty’s style and game here.

Read more on Koivunen’s game here.

Koivunen has been among the AHL’s leaders in rookie goal scoring and points. The 21-year-old scrappy winger is in his first full North American season. He leads the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins with 21 goals and 55 points in 62 games. He also notched a four-goal game in January against AHL power Hershey.

His 21 goals are the most by a WBS Penguins rookie since Daniel Sprong in 2017-18.

WBS has already clinched an AHL playoff spot.

After a slow start, McGroarty has led the team in points since Feb. 15, earning 18 points in that time. Overall, he has 39 points in 60 games (14-25-39), but he also kills penalties and has worked on adding a stiff defensive game. He was scoreless in his three previous NHL games.

The Penguins acquired McGroarty from the Winnipeg Jets when the 2022 14th overall pick decided he did not want to sign with Winnipeg and opted to stay at the University of Michigan. Penguins general manager Kyle Dubas traded 2023 14th overall pick Brayden Yager to acquire him.

The Penguins are dealing with multiple injuries up front. Evgeni Malkin has missed the last couple of games, and Boko Imama missed Thursday with an upper-body injury. However, the Penguins did not announce the recalls as emergency recalls.