SEATTLE (TNS) — When the Penguins announced Sunday that Rutger McGroarty would be headed back to Wilkes-Barre/Scranton after he was activated from injured reserve, it didn’t come as much of a surprise.

But it was another setback in a season full of them for one of the organization’s most highly-touted prospects.

The decision made sense. McGroarty did not appear likely to crack the lineup during the team’s four-game road trip, especially as he gets back from a concussion suffered earlier this month. The team recalled Joona Koppanen from their AHL affiliate, presumably to sit in the press box.

“Rut’s been out there a little bit now, just with the injury, and so it’s an opportunity for him to play,” Penguins coach Dan Muse said before Monday’s win against the Kraken. “We felt like if he was going to be here and not playing, it didn’t make a lot of sense.

“And with Koppanen, it’s a long trip. When you’re out here this far, it does become a little bit trickier there in terms of the logistics of getting somebody out … With Koppanen, you got a guy who can play either center or wing. He’s a guy, too, that if you need him in the lineup, he’s trusted there to kill penalties. And so it gives you some different options that way.”

McGroarty absolutely needs to play, and the path to doing so with the Penguins — thanks to the team’s surprising forward depth — is murky. The same dilemma applies to Tristan Broz and Ville Koivunen.

But if you told Penguins fans at the end of last season that neither Koivunen nor McGroarty would be in Pittsburgh’s lineup in January 2026, it probably would have come as a shock. Add in Broz, who had a strong training camp and has been excellent at the AHL level, and Wilkes-Barre/Scranton has three forwards who seemed poised to be NHL regulars.

McGroarty’s campaign was derailed from the start with an upper-body injury that prevented him from making his NHL season debut until Dec. 1.

He did a lot of things well in his 16 games with the Penguins this season. The team’s expected goals against with the 21-year-old on the ice were among the lowest on the team (2.5 per 60 minutes), according to Moneypuck.

But scoring was not one of them. He had just two goals and an assist, matching the point total he amassed in eight games with the Penguins last season.

“It’s been good,” Muse said of McGroarty’s NHL stint after he was placed on injured reserve Jan. 7. “Obviously, with all young players … you’re going out there to make an impact, and you’re also making sure, too, that there’s always gonna be things to learn. You’re early in your time in the NHL.

“Rutger’s a guy who works every day. He’s a big-time competitor. I thought there was a lot of good things there.”

He and Koivunen played on a line centered by Ben Kindel that was emblematic of McGroarty’s season. Their expected goals percentage was 58.98% in nearly 92 minutes together, per Natural Stat Trick. Their actual goals percentage was 25%, as they struggled to capitalize on the chances they created.

Their relegation to the AHL is not just a reflection of how they played. It’s more a result of the team’s surprising surge to playoff contention fueled by a series of unheralded additions that have eaten up the available spots in the forward lineup.

Justin Brazeau and Anthony Mantha, who have combined for 54 points on the season including three in Monday’s win, have become regulars on the wing. Kindel has appeared in nearly every game as an 18-year-old. The fourth line — a place where McGroarty’s playing style would seem to fit well — has been untouchable thanks to the combined efforts of Connor Dewar, Blake Lizotte and Noel Acciari.

Even late December trade pick-up Egor Chinakhov has been impossible to remove from the lineup thanks to his strong skating and wicked shot.

But it still appears that McGroarty and Koivunen have a long way to go before they’re ready to be consistent NHL performers, and that’s one of the few minor disappointments in an otherwise sterling season for the Penguins.

Further dominance in the AHL offers the perfect opportunity to build their confidence and prepare them for the inevitable moment when they’re needed in Pittsburgh. They were both unbelievable in their early-season stints with Wilkes-Barre/Scranton. Koivunen has three assists in six games since returning. McGroarty picked up an assist in his first game back Monday.

Their combined age is 43. They’ve both shown serious promise with the Penguins and still project as impactful two-way forwards. But their development in NHL games is a casualty of the team’s success.