The making of McGroarty Jets’ top prospect, family give all to get forward NHL ready By: Mike McIntyre Posted: 6:24 PM CDT Friday, Apr. 12, 2024

ST. PAUL, Minn. — He is the most intriguing prospect in the Winnipeg Jets pipeline, a unique player whose combination of character, compete and charisma has already made plenty of waves around the hockey world.

Now, eyes are on the left-shooting power forward Rutger McGroarty to see what he does next, after his college season ended here in the Twin Cities on Thursday night. The Michigan Wolverines lost in the semi-final of the NCAA Frozen Four, leaving him with an important decision to make: Turn pro and sign with the NHL club that drafted him 14th overall in 2022 or head back to school for another year?

We’ll get to what the future holds shortly. First, there’s quite a story to tell about how the 20-year-old from Lincoln, Neb. — a city of 290,000 that has produced a grand total of zero big-league hockey players — got to this stage.

“Sometimes, I’ll look back and think about how the rink I grew up skating with my dad used to be a barn. It had cows and pigs painted on it,” McGroarty recalled with a laugh, earlier this week.

And his first coach?

“He was a farmer. He couldn’t even skate. He came on the ice with just his boots and a hockey helmet and stick,” he added.

The Free Press spent the past few days talking with not only the man himself but members of his inner circle. Here’s a look at what we learned:

Family ties

McGroarty wasn’t born with a silver spoon in his mouth. But he was handed a hockey stick as a toddler.

His Toronto-born father, Jimmy, was an assistant coach of the Omaha Lancers of the USHL at the time, moving on to be assistant coach and general manager of the rival Lincoln Stars when Rutger was three.

“I’d never said the word Canada, I didn’t know anything about skating. It meant nothing to me,” said Cindy McGroarty, a native Nebraskan who first met Jimmy in 1999 when he played a game in her city.

“To marry a Canadian who played hockey, to have a son who plays hockey, to know how important (drills) are at practice, it kind of blows my mind.”

Jimmy, who spent 12 years playing hockey in the minors with various stops around the U.S., was careful not to push their son in any particular direction.

“Him growing up in the locker room, you never know which way it’s going to go. Is he going to love the game?” he said. “Cindy did a great job of getting our kids in all the sports. Playing lacrosse, soccer, flag football, baseball, so our kids could figure out what they wanted to do. Rutger always gravitated back to hockey.”

He was naturally good at it, too. But there wasn’t much local competition, which required some creative thinking.

“Three times we drove from Nebraska to Winnipeg for this hockey tournament,” said Cindy. “It’s kind of how he got put on the North American map, which sounds so dumb for (a child). But we’re from Nebraska, so we knew spring hockey was important.”

That annual Subway showcase event led Rutger to being invited to play on a Toronto-based team in the prestigious “Brick” tournament in Edmonton when he was eight. Standing 4-foot-9 and weighing 90 pounds at the time, he led his team with 13 goals and three assists in eight games.

They lost in the final to another Toronto-area team that included current Columbus Blue Jackets rookie and former Wolverines teammate Adam Fantilli, Shane Wright of the Seattle Kraken and Jets goalie prospect Domenic DiVincentiis, who is playing in the Ontario Hockey League and lived with the McGroarty family at one point.

Small world. Speaking of which…

Scott Pionk, a well-known local hockey coach from Omaha who is the father of current Jets defenceman Neal Pionk (one of the few NHL players originally from the state of Nebraska), was putting together a travelling team for kids born in 2003 (Lake Superior Stars) including his youngest son, Aaron.

Rutger, a year younger, was brought in. There were other out-of-state kids on it, too, including Lane Hutson from Michigan. Hutson’s father, Rob, who was born in Swan River and played minor hockey throughout the U.S., was a good friend of Jimmy’s. Their boys bonded instantly, with the dads coaching them in various tournaments over the years.

“I’ve got to watch (Rutger’s) whole journey. And I’m excited to continue watching where he’s going,” said Rob.

Rutger and Lane, who was drafted in the second round by the Montreal Canadiens in 2022 and currently plays for Boston University, were teammates on the American world junior squad this past winter. They hoped to meet in the Frozen Four final on Saturday, but Lane’s club lost to Denver 2-1 in overtime on Thursday afternoon in the other semi-final.

Perhaps a future Jets vs. Habs game?

“Rutger is the type of kid that’s always going to put the team first,” said Rob. “We played on pretty big stages with the boys, Rutger especially, always finds a way to deliver. The bigger the stage, the bigger the delivery. He’s going to do well.”

Growth and development

Getting to the next level meant having to make a painful decision — leaving Nebraska. And so father and son packed up in 2017 and moved to Michigan where he played on the 13U AAA Honeybaked team in 2017, putting up 40 goals in 17 games with his dad coaching the club. Two more seasons of elite production in the state would follow, with Cindy and daughter, Molly, staying in Lincoln.

“We didn’t live a normal life, and our story is obviously different,” said Jimmy, who eventually stepped off the bench and into a general manager position with Muskegon of the USHL.

“Rutger had to learn to grow up quick because I was either out scouting or helping out my team. He had to do his own laundry, he had to learn to cook his own meals, we’re talking at a young age and the sacrifices for him. I think the biggest thing we always said to Rutger was, ‘You don’t have to do this. This is hard. But if you’re going to do it, go all in, kid.’”

His eye-popping numbers put him on the radar with the U.S. National Training Development team, which welcomed him in 2020 — the first-ever player from Nebraska — and would be the next step in his rapid development. All those sacrifices, all those long drives, began to come into clearer focus for the family, which fully relocated to Michigan at this point.

“He definitely stood out,” said Brian Galivan, the director of sports science for the national development program. “He was definitely competitive and had a desire to learn. NTDP is a hard place, but he was very excited coming in. All credit to his parents, he wasn’t intimidated, that was for sure. His work ethic right off the hop was impressive.”

Although Galivan often focuses on the physical aspect of player development, he was most impressed by what he saw between McGroarty’s ears, which led to him being selected as captain.

“That’s Rutger’s biggest attribute. He is in a pretty elite category of human,” he said.

It’s the type of sentiment one hears all the time about the Jets prospect.

“I can’t say enough about the character of Rutger,” said Barb Underhill, one of Canada’s most decorated pairs figure skaters who won multiple national titles and a world championship in 1984. “Just the quality of the human that he is. You got a great one there.”

Underhill has served as his personal skating coach since the summer of 2021, when she was asked by a long-time friend (Jim Hughes, the father of NHLers Quinn, Jack and Luke) to take a look at him. She was working at the time as a consultant for both the Toronto Maple Leafs and Tampa Bay Lightning and didn’t have a lot of free time.

“Literally the minute we touched the ice I was like, ‘Oh, my gosh, I want to be a part of this’,” said Underhill. “I could just tell in his personality how bought in Rutger was to the process. I just knew that I would be able to help him.”

Hughes is an agent with CAA, which was consulting with the McGroarty family as he was about to begin his second year with the NTDP.

“(Rutger) had been told by so many people over and over and over that skating was an issue. So, that really gets stuck in your head,” said Underhill.

“I said, ‘Look, Rutger, you’re going to be at a point where nobody is going to talk about it anymore, and I want to get you to that point. I want to help you get there.’”

It’s still an area that needs further attention — Underhill and Rutger will have more sessions this summer — but the difference in just a few short years is stark. Underhill has been amazed at the “buy-in” from her pupil, who frequently travels from the family’s current home in Michigan to Toronto and is willing to do whatever it takes to improve.

“It’s not fun work. It’s hard work and it’s slow and it’s a process and you’ve got to take the time to build and you have to have patience,” she said. “The character on that kid is one of the best I’ve seen in all my years. I can’t say enough.”

The feeling is mutual.

“She’s the best,” said Rutger. “I gotta be honest, the first skate I was so nervous. I don’t even think I learned anything from the first one because I was in so much awe. Just who she was and being able to come on the ice with me. I respect her so much. She’s unbelievable. She’s helped my skating so much, from top to bottom.”

Disaster and recovery

Rutger, listed at 6-foot-1, 200 pounds, was looking to build off a terrific ‘22-23 rookie season at Michigan (39 games, 18 goals, 21 assists) and was well on his way — leading the entire NCAA in scoring this season — when it all came to a crashing halt. On Nov. 17, he was rocked by a bodycheck, sending him crashing into the boards.

He had to be stretchered off the ice and was rushed to hospital.

“I’ll be straight up honest with you, I was (expletive) terrified, I nearly had a heart attack,” said Galivan. “Rutger is like family to us and our kids. That was horrible.”

Jimmy Roy, the Jets director of player development, was at the game.

“I’ll be straight up honest with you, I was (expletive) terrified, I nearly had a heart attack.”–Brian Galivan

“It was kind of scary to see how much pain he was in and what had happened,” he said.

The official diagnosis was a broken rib and a collapsed lung. Fortunately, it healed quicker than expected and a clean bill of health was granted 11 days after the accident. Cindy recalls watching Rutger, his finger trembling as he slid the screen of his phone across to access his medical report, getting the good news.

“We all screamed. I was on my knees praying. Just so grateful,” she said. “As soon as he saw that it was game on.”

The U.S. world junior team kept a spot open for Rutger, who had put up seven points in seven games during the 2023 event and would now be back, this time as captain.

“For him to come back and be able to play in world juniors, and then to have the tournament that he did, is amazing,” said Wolverines teammate (and roommate) Frank Nazar, who was on that gold-medal club as well. “It’s awesome to see him succeed and be not only a great player, but a great person. It’s awesome to grow up with him.”

Wearing a flak jacket for extra protection, Rutger had five goals and four assists in seven games, culminating with a U.S. victory over Sweden for the championship.

“He didn’t just go to be a mascot. He led that team,” said Galivan.

And created an incredible memory for the entire family.

“It put everything into perspective. We’re always learning, as parents, and our kids are always surprising us in a good way,” said Rutger’s dad, Jimmy. “To able to celebrate that moment with our son when just a month and a half before we never thought any of this was going to come to fruition.”

Heartache and hope

Now what?

Rutger wasn’t in the proper mindset to discuss it Thursday night as he sat in his locker room stall, nearly half an hour after his season had ended, still in full equipment. His voice was cracking, his eyes welling with tears as he spoke. The devastation of falling one win short of reaching the final for a second straight year was evident.

Change was in the air, with several seniors set to move on and perhaps a few top prospects, like himself, looking to make the jump to pro.

“As a human I’ve learned so much from all these guys. I came into Michigan like a boy. I had too much swagger, I was too cocky coming off a great year at NTDP. The way these guys have helped me mature as a man,” said McGroarty.

“I feel like I’ve matured so much as a human just being around these guys. It’s been the best two years of my life.”

Will there be a third?

The Jets have built a terrific relationship with Rutger and his family. Roy, fellow player development coach Mike Keane, general manager Kevin Cheveldayoff and assistant GM Larry Simmons have all got repeated up-close viewings this season.

“What he’s been able to do this year at the University of Michigan, I think it’s just tremendous,” said Roy. “And he’s such a great kid. I’m happy for him. The whole organization couldn’t be happier with Rutger overall. Everything. The whole situation.”

With Michigan in the hunt for a title, the NHL club gave their prized prospect plenty of personal space — which has been most appreciated.

“Throughout the year we talked one, two three times a week. Just catching up, getting to know each other better. These people are investing so much money in you, you’ve got to get to know them as a person. I feel like we’ve grown our relationship,” said Rutger.

“Definitely in the second half it’s picked up. More texts, meetings, Chevy coming to watch me. I feel like it’s definitely increased. They’ve been so respectful with the playoff push. I have to give them so much respect.”

Expect conversations to pick up in the coming days, with the next chapter of his story waiting to be written.

“We always told Rutger when preparedness intersects with opportunity, it’s time to go,” said Cindy.

“Winnipeg knows when opportunity is there, Rutger knows when he’s prepared. He won’t put himself in a bad situation, and it’s not like he’s in a horrible situation for development. So, if someone says, ‘No, you have room to grow before you’re ready,’ that’s OK, too. He’s prepared for just about anything.”

One thing is clear: He has no shortage of people rooting for him.

“He’s going to be a captain in the NHL. He has those characteristics,” predicted Rob Hutson.

“I know it takes a village, but it’s all credit to Rutger,” added Galivan. “Rutger is just getting started. This is just the beginning of what he’s going to do. He’s had a lot of success for our federation, for USA hockey, now for Michigan. But it’s just the beginning for him. No doubt about it. I’m excited to watch it.”

Nobody — and we mean nobody — is more excited than the man himself.

“This year has taught me so much as a human and a hockey player about what it takes to really get to that highest level of hockey and highest level of a human being,” said Rutger.

“The amount of stuff I’ve learned this year from my teammates and my parents, coaches, friends. Everything is kind of coming together and it’s a lot of fun. It takes a village, and it’s been unbelievable.”

mike.mcintyre@freepress.mb.ca

X: @mikemcintyrewpg