Kevin Cheveldayoff shares the reason Rutger McGroarty gave him for wanting out of Winnipeg

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Josh tupper
August 23, 2024 (11:28)

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Kevin Cheveldayoff shares the reason Rutger McGroarty gave him for wanting out of Winnipeg after his first and only development camp

Yesterday afternoon, the Winnipeg Jets and Pittsburgh Penguins came together on a trade that sent disgruntled prospect Rutger McGroarty to Pittsburgh in exchange for Brayden Yager. The deal came after months of speculation involving McGroarty and his hockey future.

Before the NHL Draft in Las Vegas, news leaked that McGroarty was refusing to sign a deal with the Jets and instead would return to College for another season. At the time McGroarty or his camp provided no context as to why they'd made the request. While the McGroarty was simply looking to move on, yesterday Kevin Cheveldayoff was more than willing to discuss what occurred with the player and why the team wasn't able to overcome this challenge.

According to Cheveldayoff things started to go south when he received a message at the combine in June.

He said he just didn't feel right.

(The agent) didn't have a reason. I went through a litany of questions to the agent to see. Was it player development? Was it we didn't burn a year (of his contract?) He says 'No.' He said it just didn't feel right. It started at development camp and it just didn't feel right.

I met with Rutger face to face several days later and that was the same response as well. He said that, when he got to development camp here, he put the jersey on, it became real, and it just didn't feel right at that time.

While Jets fans were disappointed in losing one of their top prospects, it must be reassuring to know that the franchise had no way of impacting this decision. It seems that for McGroarty that the VIBES just weren't right. Now a member of the Pittsburgh Penguins, McGroarty has already signed his entry level contract and is preparing to make his NHL debut.

For the Jets the addition of Brayden Yager should be a positive one as the Saskatchewan native moves closer to home where he'll likely be a fan favorite.