McGroarty thrilled to get familiar with Winnipeg during development camp

As excited as Jets fans are to see 2022 first-round pick Rutger McGroarty - and the team's other top prospects at development camp - they still might not match the excitement McGroarty has to be here.

"I haven't been out to Winnipeg yet since I've been drafted. I'm really looking forward to it. It's going to be a blast, getting to see the lifestyle there," said McGroarty last week.

"Getting to know all the other prospects, becoming closer with everybody in management, everybody in the organization, I think it's going to be great."

McGroarty and his fellow prospects step on the ice for the first time today as development camp returns to Winnipeg for the first time since 2019. The Nebraska product was recently in Nashville for the 2023 NHL Draft supporting two Michigan teammates of his, Adam Fantilli and Gavin Brindley. Both asked McGroarty for advice leading up to their big day.

"They actually were asking me about being drafted by Winnipeg, asking me about the combine, how to answer if a team asks this or what to do," said McGroarty.

"It was more just funny stories about this or that and then obviously helping them pick out their draft song and what suit to wear, that type of thing. More the fun stuff."

Fantilli, who ended up going third overall to the Columbus Blue Jackets recalled part of those draft song conversations he had with McGroarty.

"The draft song is, we were all messing around in the car playing songs, stuff like that," said Fantilli last week in Nashville.

"I know his was "Pump It Up" and that might be the most Rutger McGroarty song I've ever heard so that was definitely a good pick for him."

Its already been a year since McGroarty went 14th overall to the Jets at the draft in Montreal. He looked back at his experience and had a lot of favourite moments.

"All of it. That's the main thing I told Brindley and Fantilli. I was just like 'I would do anything to just go back and be at the combine, get drafted, it was so much fun'. It's a weekend of no hockey, no working out, it's what you have done up until now. Obviously, there's still a ton of work to go," said McGroarty.

"It was kind of a weekend like celebration and kind of just an excitement. Obviously there are a lot of nerves but I would say my favourite part of draft weekend is hearing your name get called, especially by the Winnipeg Jets in the first round. You can't compare that. You black out, get the goose bumps, it's crazy, hugging your parents, hugging your grandpa and sister."

It's common knowledge up here that the Jets have gone to the University of Michigan for players that have been a large part of their core.

"For me obviously, a guy like Kyle Connor, that's awesome, (Jacob) Trouba. It's pretty cool, I've talked to (Andrew) Copp about it a couple of times cause he trains at the same gym (in Michigan)," said McGroarty.

"It's kind of cool he said he had a bag of Winnipeg stuff, once he went to Detroit. We've been talking about it."

McGroarty is coming off an impressive first season at Michigan. The Wolverines went to the Frozen Four and lost in the semis to Quinnipiac. The 19-year-old had 39 points (18 goals, 21 assists) in 39 games in 2022-23.

"I thought it was a great season for a freshman year," said McGroarty. "We had a great team; we had a great leadership group that taught me a lot. I feel like at the beginning of the season, I went through a lot of learning curves and coming into college, dealing with the class schedule, dealing with time management.

"Once I hit that second half, it really escalated for me. I felt a lot better in the second half."

Wolverines assistant coach, Rob Rassey, agreed with McGroarty's assessment of his freshman season performance.

"What people forget sometimes is they are 18-year-old kids, and they are playing college hockey, you are playing against 22, 23, 24, 25-year-old players. So, it's different it's an adjustment. I think we had a young team in general and we relied on guys like Rut to play big roles for us right from the start and it was obviously well deserved on his end," said Rassey.

"There was going to be some growing pains and we knew that. Even through those growing pains, Rut still managed to get on the score sheet. His true impact on the game really happened after Christmas time. He just started to really feel comfortable, and his game took off."

While Rassey was excited to talk about McGroarty's freshman season performance, he was equally happy to discuss the type of kid that the Jets prospect is.

"Rut is somebody that brings energy to every situation. Every day that you walk into the rink, he's excited to be there. He's got a smile on his face that's infectious," said Rassey.

"He genuinely loves the game; he genuinely loves his teammates. He's got a great attitude. He's coachable, I mean from a coaches perspective, he's definitely everything you could ask for."