From The Point: How does Penguins prospect Rutger McGroarty feel about playing in the AHL? One word keeps coming up

His first few months with the Penguins organization? “Incredible.” The American Hockey League? Also “incredible.” The Wilkes-Barre/Scranton coaching staff, the young core there and veterans such as Dan Renouf? Yep, all “incredible,” too.

After he declined to sign with Winnipeg and was traded to Pittsburgh, there was a perception — at least among Jets fans who had an internet connection — that he believed he was too good for the AHL. And they claim that’s why McGroarty wanted out of Winnipeg, because the Jets wouldn’t guarantee him an NHL spot this season. During an interview with the Post-Gazette, he weighed in on that for the first time.

“That has nothing to do with anything that happened or has gone on. I was never scared of going to the AHL,” McGroarty said. “The AHL is an incredible league. It’s an incredible development league. Every day, I come to the rink with the guys and have a blast. We have a really good team, too. So it makes it really fun to be here.”

“I feel like every single week we have a development person in town, and we go on the ice 30 minutes early and stay on for 30 minutes after practice. It’s every single day, honestly. It’s incredible how much we care about development,” McGroarty said. “I am so lucky to be a part of the organization for that development piece.”

Yeah, his dream is still the NHL. But right now, life is — you guessed it — incredible.