Is It Time For The Winnipeg Jets And Rutger McGroarty To Put Aside Differences And Make Up?

Is It Time For The Winnipeg Jets And Rutger McGroarty To Put Aside Differences And Make Up?

is it best for Rucker mcro and the Winnipeg Jets to kiss and makeup find out on tonight’s episode of Locked on Winnipeg [Music] Jets you’re locked on the hockey Jets your daily podcast on the Winnipeg Jets part of the locked on podcast Network your team every day hi friends and welcome to tonight’s episode of Locked on Winnipeg Jets part of the locked on podcast Network your team Team every day I’m your host Harrison Lee an avid Winn AIG Jets fan and an online blogger you can follow me on Twitter at H Liv loo and lore winipeg jetss as always thanks for making locked on Jets your first listen of the day every day if you like what you’re hearing be sure to like follow And subscribe on all of your favorite podcasting platforms and YouTube doing so of course is always free of charge and ensures you never miss another episode most of all though we just love and appreciate your support tonight’s episode like I said at the start we’re going to be kicking it off with Rucker mcity discussions and uh obviously that’s been a very touchy subject with a lot of folks uh Winnipeg fans I’m sure are probably tired of The Saga and honestly you would think that both the Jets and mity are also tired of The Saga but you know it’s still ongoing still a uh a daily discussion topic as there continues to be uh a level of radio Silence from at least one particular Camp while the Jets are trying to push their side of things uh on on the other side so lots of interesting uh thought processes going on here and I guess the biggest question for all of this is at the end of everything here is mordi just going to end up back in Winnipeg like is this really worth going through all this trouble and burning communication Bridges and going through all of this hassle you know to find out that you don’t really have it better elsewhere I mean the grass just really isn’t greener in many other parts so we’ll talk about that in just a quick minute the before we kick that off though just wanted to let you know that tonight’s episode is brought to you by FanDuel make every moment more because as all of our playoffs have winded down and the sports maybe is not sporting the way we want it to summer is you know a bit of a quieter Sports period but FanDuel wants to help keep it hot with a lot of great offers for all customers starting with a boost and a daily bonus that’s right there’s something for everyone every day all summer long visit fel.com to get started now like I said you know I just talked a little bit about the grass not always being Greener elsewhere and I think that’s a really big uh point of of note when it comes to players the Jets have traded right when you think about Patrick Lan and Pier Luke de and Jack roslovic I think of all of those guys roslovic has probably had the smoothest run recently and that’s generally speaking he swapped several different teams uh he’s now in what Carolina I think think and so you often find that you know players who have asked to leave uh trouba included sure you know they may sign some big long-term deals and that’s great but in terms of their actual performance and the way that their teams have performed most of them really haven’t had much to write home about uh I look at New York as being the most successful of all of these teams rosic passed through there of course um trouba has been there and is now perhaps going to get traded at some point uh you just don’t really see them other than the Rangers really being all that successful cop went to Detroit got paid hasn’t really seen much of a a recent streak of success and I I turned back to the Jets right and look Winnipeg has a whole host of problems they are a flawed team and I think everyone knows that but when I look at the present roster conditions when I think about the direction the franchise wants to move in and I look at the fact that quite frankly mcor has a legitimate chance to fight for a roster spot uh for the start of the season this particular year I just don’t understand why we’ve gone through this whole song and dance I know that April was apparently the Tipping Point for all of this and I don’t know if it was his agent that looked at all of this and thought you know if Peretti is not even getting in why would my client really get a shot and maybe that is true maybe that plus the jet saying we can’t promise you a roster spot as soon as you arrive was enough to sort of piss off the whole uh pth package but I I just I think to myself it seems a little gut reactionary right I I just don’t feel like this was necessary especially with what sounds like radio Silence from Rucker mcor’s camp and I feel like if mcor really does start to reconsider things which Mike McIntyre did suggest his Camp is maybe going to re re-evaluate this since you know a lot of these other NHL teams that the Jets have tried to trade him to have ended up backing away from it I guess for me you know I sort of wonder if mending fences and making up is honestly in the best interest of both parties mcor’s trade value right now has to be pretty low uh I can’t imagine that there are many teams out there that are really willing to Pony up for a problem child and for aity uh his rep is is kind of not great right now I’ll be honest I don’t know that it’s as bad as uh McIntyre has suggested or that you know marada Tesh has also suggested but I can’t imagine that there are a lot of teams that him favorably I’m sure there are plenty of teams that would still take a waiver on him but probably when he hits free agency or at an extreme discount when it comes to a trade value so I just feel like when you’re talking about teams that are playoff competitive that are potentially uh fighting among the the top rungs of their division and that are also going to have roster availability for a said player to actually get into the lineup I just don’t really think there are many better uh options than the Jets I keep circling around and thinking you know of the playoff competitive teams I mean maybe Colorado but like he’s not going to Colorado the ABS aren’t going to trade for him they don’t have the assets anymore um and I can’t imagine the Jets would want to trade to like a a really competitive rival like that anyways but I I just think all of these different uh scenarios and sort of conditions make me think that at the end of all of this maybe it’s just best for everyone if mcy stays a jet he can kind of rehab the relationship and I don’t think it would be that hard I mean this whole thing feels like you know his agent and maybe himself sort of forced to gamble that he thought was going to go very differently than it actually has and with the Jets not necessarily having a ton of Leverage here but still being relatively in control for at least the rest of this season I I get the sense that maybe he overplayed his hand and is perhaps regretting it uh if I was in moror shoes and I went through the same process I’d probably be feeling like I made a bit of a mistake and it’s true you have plenty of tensions between players and their teams all the time uh just look at some of the guys who have threatened to hold out at Camp uh some of them who haven’t you know shed up and and awaited like big contract extensions we’ve seen it happen plenty of times so this is nothing really new it’s just part of the business side of things I just sort of question why the communications uh Bridge has kind of been burned that I don’t really get it’s weird that mcor’s camp really hasn’t been that active since April now I’m sure they’ve put stuff out there and tried to leak certain things to force a move faster but by the same token it doesn’t really seem like they’re talking all that much with Winnipeg’s FR an office so for me I just don’t know what to make of this but I feel like a after all that we’ve seen I just feel like it’s best for everyone if they kind of kiss and make up and and get over this uh I I don’t really I mean I’m not going to say that I’m not irritated by all of what has happened but by the same token I’m not going to continue to hold a blood grudge against mcord camp for doing this I mean it’s the leverage that he’s been given from you know his his rights as a uh an NCAA drafty and I can understand if he wants to exercise them but I feel like there’s just not many better opportunities than the Jets I don’t say that as a Winnipeg fan I just say that generally speaking if you think about the number of playoff teams that can actually give him a playoff spot there’s just not really many out there and I think the jets are in a particularly unique position because they’re trying to play more youth uh of the teams out there that are actively committing to having a youth movement the Jets might have the most open uh and and most available roster spots in pretty good places Winnipeg could have some really big gaps already because they’re down Monahan and to Foley they might be down eers and so I just asked myself you know for mcor’s sake right what really is the best path for his career and I really feel like just give the Jets a c like giving the Jets a chance might be in everyone’s best interest the Jets are going to retain one of their top prospects and the guy who was labeled as a future Captain mcor can kind of work on rehabbing that relationship and getting NHL reps and a paycheck all of that stuff really does matter and I feel like it bypasses all of this Selen and drama and you get back to just playing hockey I feel like that’s what it should be uh that should be like the priority that should be the focus and I think it would be better for everyone involved now I did mention that of course um you know there’s some narrative stuff here that I think the Jets have tried to control and we’ll talk about what that might look like and how that’s going to continue to shape over the next few months but before we go any further just wanted to shout out our friends and partners at eBay Motors passion drive and patience the formula for winning championships is also what keeps your ride or die alive eBay Motors has everything you need to maintain your vehicle and level it up to Peak Performance just like building a championship team requires all sorts of components they’ve got plenty of things from superchargers roof racks exhaust kits LED headlights and more no matter what you’re into whether it’s speed power or style eBay Motors has you covered with over 122 million parts for your number one vehicle You’ll Always Find exactly what you’re looking for and with eBay’s guaranteed fit your part is guaranteed to fit your ride every time or you get your money back with eBay Motors your burning rubber not cash with all the parts you need at the prices you want it’s easy to make your car the MVP and bring home huge victories keep your ride or die alive at ebaymotors.com eligible items only exclusion Supply eBay guaranteed fit is only available to us customers hey friends and welcome back to this episode of Locked on Winnipeg Jets part of the locked on podcast Network your team every day every thank you so much for rejoining us on tonight’s episode as we are just uh chatting about some of the stuff with you know the Rucker mcro situation and I wanted to focus a little bit on the fact that we are kind of dealing with Winnipeg pushing a bit of a narrative right now I think we’ve really seen after the initial stage and the initial leaks that the Jets kind of want teams to understand that you know they’re not the ones at fault or at least feel that way right they want to make mcity look like he’s kind of entitled and spoiled which is an understandable approach uh you’re you’re talking about a player who has kind of tried to force his way out tried to force his hand and I think they want to make it seem like his Camp is being UNP participative which I don’t know if you have to actually do that much convincing I kind of feel like the non-communication stuff has probably done that for uh the Jets already but by the same token it’s just a bit of an unusual situation you don’t often see this uh well until recently I would say this wasn’t something that happened that frequently I would say the past couple of Seasons it’s starting to increase in in frequency and you’re seeing it a little bit more often um but throughout all of this I think that jets are really trying to sell this narrative and I don’t know if that’s the best approach to be honest uh for one thing the reports that are coming out from like m m McIntyre and atesh and and other reporters it’s not really shocking for anyone right the fact that they’re suggesting that teams were suddenly scared off by all of this by what they’re hearing from Ruckers camp and that’s why the trades broke down last weekend doesn’t really add up for me I mean like teams had to know that this was a situation and so my read personally is that this was why they broke down during the draft or maybe even before I don’t really buy the teams didn’t know this was a thing I feel like it was kind of understood as to why mcity was sort of backing away before the draft hit and where I kind of tend to see this really boiling over is that the Jets were pretty firm in their asking price right I think that’s what was the real sticking point is when Peg wanted what like a first and maybe a roster player of some sort for mcor or a similar package you know something really Hefty because he is relatively uh speaking a pro Ready Player I mean his skating does have some issues and obviously he hasn’t played in the NHL yet but uh of the prospects and the development that you’ve got he’s ready to step into a lineup somewhere whether it’s with the Jets or somewhere else and so you kind of factored that into the price and I think Winnipeg probably was unwilling to budge because they view him as a top prospect and they may feel that they have more time this offseason to resolve this question I don’t know if I necessarily agree with that particular lens and and angle I think the time is actually running out pretty quickly for the Jets to get this solved but in terms of controlling the narrative I think we’re going to see Winnipeg continue to try and uh perhaps Force something out of this and I do worry that at some point they’re just going to sort of back themselves into a corner and perhaps devalue the asset considerably uh that’s where I feel like playing nice and and sort of making up on both sides is actually helpful I I don’t know if you want to keep trying to uh discredit mcor’s Camp because that seems like you’re also doing some stuff to maybe burn some bridges and perhaps that relationship really is unsalvageable maybe it’s well past the point of no return there’s no point in even discussing this and you know at this point it’s too late but I still feel like there is time to salvage something I think that there is still a potential relationship that you could pull out of this and I just don’t know what else Winnipeg could really glean from you know going through all of these exercises I just feel like you know mcor’s trade asset is probably uh or trade value as an asset’s probably pretty low I can’t imagine that there are many teams that are eager to give Winnipeg now you know a first rounder or anything of that nature maybe you could try and do like a swap for a disgruntled player but like I just I don’t really see it right uh I I can’t really imagine that there’s much out there I mean maybe there was like a mcity thing or something uh apparently Carolina was in on mcity I’ve heard Montreal there’s been a few other teams like Buffalo that have inquired um Minnesota was also sort of in intrigued I guess and then they drafted Z buim so I think that there’s plenty of teams that would perhaps consider it but I I don’t know if they were really willing to pay what the Jets were asking and that’s where I think the real sticking point was I don’t think it’s anything about surprise from what his Camp is asking for I think the only way I would you know change my perspective on that is it could have been that you know uh MC’s Camp was saying one thing to the Jets and telling opposing teams something else right if they were using the roster uh spot excuse with winipeg just to force the issue but it sounds like they’ve been pretty consistent in the messaging so um with that in mind I I don’t really buy that teams are shocked or or really put off by the as a as a surprise right I think it’s I think it’s established I think it’s known and I think the big sticking point is just no one wants to pay up for that so um you know I think this narrative is going to continue to swing back and forth until we see a resolution and again I think the more that we see like smear campaigns and stuff uh kind of come out of this I do wonder if that impacts Winnipeg standing among prospects in the future I don’t know what players who are are watching this are thinking uh not that I would necessarily imagine all of them are taking mcity side here but you know they are observing they are drawing their own conclusions and they’ll see some of the same stuff that happened with Peretti in that you know Cole was not really given a big role with the team and it took you know a couple of coaches now for that to really become uh crystallized that he has a major potential future with the jet so it it’s a weird state to be in I don’t like having to go through all of this sort of mudslinging and to be fair it’s not like it’s been particularly bad but I feel like we’re seeing more and more stuff about Rucker uh being viewed by the league is entitled or something and I I just eh I mean it it could be true and I wouldn’t be shocked if it is actually because let’s be real most NHL franchises are probably pretty similar and in a similar mindset as Winnipeg is they probably look at a you know an entitled spoiled kid coming in who thinks he’s better than what’s on the roster and is demanding a roster spot and they probably look at him like the cutter gothier situation where they were like don’t want to deal with that uh cutter is obviously super talented but the way that he forced his uh his exit out of Philly left a big sour taste in a lot of teams mouths so I mean I just I sit here and I’m like this just doesn’t seem like a healthy environment for anyone I feel like the sooner the Jets can sort of wrap this up and stop having to try and control this narrative I think it’s going to be better for everyone I feel like you know I keep coming back to the idea that at some point maybe it’s just time for Rucker to sign the contract you know get that underway get paid and maybe spend some time in Winnipeg maybe play a few seasons here see if it’s really that bad if at the end of it he really just hates his time here I I totally respect it I don’t I I think I would actually prefer if he just if he just was upfront and said I don’t want to play in Winnipeg if that’s the sticking point I don’t blame him I’m not going to be mad about it um you know he didn’t get to choose where he was drafted so I I I don’t necessarily uh hold that specific thing against him but if this whole roster spot thing continues to be a sticking point then just come to camp and fight it out like the Jets aren’t going to tell him that he’s got a roster spot from day one there’s very few players that they do that too and even with Kyle Conor Kyle Connor had to spend quite a bit of time in the AHL he spent like half a season there so uh for me I I just feel like you know it it doesn’t make sense to to sit this one out and maybe even tarnish your reputation around the league for for not much gain and for the Jets you know continuing to try and force this and really make him seem like he’s entitled and spoiled doesn’t really make the Jets look all that much better uh in fact it kind of makes me wonder like you know who is really telling the truth here um and I just I don’t know uh it’s a weird situation the way that it’s played out is very strange it’s it’s a little off in many respects and I just I don’t like it and anytime that you have the sort of drama and tension it just doesn’t really lead to many good things so it’d be nice if they can kind of cross the bridge somebody shakes a hand somewhere and we move on because the longer this goes on the less likely it is that anyone walks away happy so H here’s to I guess getting over their differences and making something happen let me know if you think that this relationship is even repairable do you think it’s well past the point I have kind of maintained that I thought it was past the point of no return but um I’m welcome to be you know uh having a changed mind I’d love to see things get better and and not be so feisty but it’s part of the business right it just is what it is now speaking of the start of the season the NHL released uh the schedule for next season not too long ago and I wanted to talk about the start of Winnipeg season which we’ll see uh a big season opener in the you know in on the road in Edmonton against the Stanley Cup finalists so we’ll talk about that in just a quick moment but before we go any further just thought you’d love to hear about our partners at FanDuel I love sports and I love them so much that I really wish they wouldn’t end but of course NHL playoffs are over the Jets were out in the first round so it’s been a very long time without Winnipeg hockey we have all this offseason drama I guess to fill our new Cycles but if you’re actually wanting to watch sports unless you’re watching like the Euros or Copa Amica or uh baseball maybe some race ring if you’re into F1 and indie car and NASCAR um there’s a fair amount of sports but not one of the big ones that I think a lot of us are really into like no hockey no American football and know some of those bigger sports that tend to get a lot of play in this side of the hemisphere uh it’s been a little bit quiet so you know you’re looking to fill the void and FanDuel totally gets that they want to help you keep the sports going whenever you want all you have to do is open the app and dream up bets anytime you’re in the mood the summer is also keeping things spicy by hooking up all customers with a booster bonus daily that’s right there’s something for everyone every day all summer long head on over to fanduel.com and start making the most of your summer FanDuel official sports betting partner of Major League Baseball hey friends and welcome back to this episode of Locked on Winnipeg Jets part of the locked on podcast Network your team every day ever thank you so much for rejoining us on tonight’s episode as we’re just wrapping up with some thoughts obviously there’s been lots of drama around mcity and everything and uh you know that’s that’s kind of put a bit of a damper on next season but it is what it is I’m not going to get too stressed about it I mean it just it whatever happens happens right I mean at the end of the day Winnipeg can only control so much and I I just want everyone to kind of walk away satisfied with some sort of reasonable outcome whether that we you know whether we actually get that H I don’t know we’ll see but all that said right the Jets have their season schedule let’s talk about the start of it because we’re going to get a nice tour of the West you know both some Central and Pacific Division opponents kicking us off though uh the season openers going to be on the road in Edmonton yay uh really would love to actually have the jet season start at home but I mean whatever uh I guess we can’t all have what we desire uh getting to face oil the Oilers on the road you know the the Stanley Cup finalists kind of interesting I guess uh should be a a fun game I think for the Jets you can maybe call it a measuring stick even though it’s not going to be the same Oilers team that they faced last time maybe Matt seavoy will be taking the lineup which would be I guess for some Jets fans perhaps a little bit of Full Circle since what he spent some time uh as an ice member and now he’s potentially uh getting into the lineup for Edmonton over you know Ryan McLoud who um obviously is now a saber uh I I don’t know quite what the whole seavoy read is I don’t know if he’s going to be a top contributor there I feel like he’ll be a nice complimentary goal scorer for McDavid or something like that who knows if that’s going to be out of uh out of preseason or camp or whatever but um for the Jets right I think uh this should be a fun game I think it’s a cool way to start the season like I said though just kind of wished it was at home Winnipeg’s actual home opener will be be just a couple days later on the 11th they’ll be taking on Chicago and the Chicago team has made a lot of additions uh I don’t know that all of the additions are actually all that good it’s a lot of veteran players who are older and slower and not particularly um in their primes anymore so I I feel like they’re still going to be bad but hey I mean it’s going to be a stronger Hawks team should be a closer game than usual so yay I guess uh then you’ve got a couple days later Minnesota and the wild are kind of in that bracket of being um a team that I feel like is is sort of stuck in a Perpetual um mediocre hell I feel like they’ve just not really been able to uh climb their way out but they have drafted some really cool prospects and it seems like they’ve made a couple of Acquisitions that I think could actually improve their team so um I do think at some point in the long term they’ll be annoying again especially once volat uh makes the NHL fulltime but until then could be some uh regrowing and rebuilding period as they try to reach tool on the Fly then you know you have a bit of a break for almost a full week you get the sharks at home uh San Jose is going to be a very young team and we’re going to get to see Macklin celebrini for the first time if all goes well uh should be a really fun home game Winnipeg has like a whole stretch of home games here which is nice again I wished it started uh the season at home but you know it is what it is then you get Pittsburgh a couple days later which you know the pens are also a team that’s kind of retooling on the Fly I don’t quite know what their plan is exactly other than just trying to extend the last few years of Crosby and Malin for as much as it’s worth uh Pittsburgh’s in a weird division now where the Metro has definitely improved with um Carolina and Washington all making some big moves but other than that there’s not a ton of teams that I think that they probably worry too much about I mean still the Rangers are going to be top top and I would expect um most of the other teams to be either sort of mid-table or whatever uh the cans obviously will be you know right there fighting with the Rangers for top of the division but otherwise there’s some opportunity for a better Penguins team to try and do something then uh kind of wrapping up the the back half of October you’re starting to get some fun games you’ve got St Louis on the road and then you’ve also got uh the Kraken on the road and then a game against Calgary which should be you know interesting I mean these are teams that are I would say not exactly the strongest opponents I would say of those three maybe the Kraken are going to be the most difficult but everyone else has kind of been in a state of either rebuilding or retooling which seems to be a theme for a lot of teams that have hit a lot of those veterancy stages uh a lot of them are aging and quite frankly their rosters just aren’t able to keep up the way they used to then you know at the end of the month you get uh a a nice little Atlantic tour I think the game that people are probably going to circle on the calendar is October 28th it’s going to be a home game against the Toronto Maple Leafs exciting times uh Toronto is just running it back so um they running it back tends to be a lot better than most other teams but for the Jets kind of a measuring stick you know you’re facing a top offense you want to see what AR’s Army is going to put together uh after a couple weeks together so this could be a really big test and then you have a road game against Detroit um I guess Detroit’s going to be decent but I don’t know they’re a strange Team every time I look at the AER plan I don’t really know what to to to read into it what to make of it and so I just tend to be a little bit underwhelmed by what he’s assembled but October should be a fun month I don’t see a lot of like top end teams uh aside from a Stanley Cup finalist in the Leafs I think this is going to be a relatively softer schedule which if you’re talking about you know a brand new coach for the Jets who has managed the Jets in interim status before but not really uh as a full-time head coach this should be a nice introduction into the role then it should give some time to sort of make some adjustments and stuff before we start to head into November and we also get our first taste of Utah um in early November to so uh lots of fun I think this should be a nice opener to the season and I’m hoping the Jets Can Come Away with a quality winning record let me know what you’re thinking for the opening of the season are you excited to see the Oilers again especially a team that uh you know Compares quite favorably to Winnipeg’s own record of success drop your thoughts and comments below or or at my social medias H living Loco and at loore winnipegjets for tonight’s episode though that’s going to be all the time that we have as always I thank you so much for listening and making lock on Jets your first listen of the day every day we’ll see you back here tomorrow with more offseason coverage so see you then and as always have a great night and go jets go

The Rutger McGroarty saga has yet to reach a satisfying conclusion for all involved. Is it finally time for both sides to lower their weapons and make amends? Is this situation too far beyond repair, or is their something salvageable? Why is Winnipeg truly one of the best choices for McGroarty to begin his NHL career? Does Rutger have any trade value of note, or has the damage been done? How far will the Jets to continue to push the narrative that Rutger is entitled? Is it also better for Winnipeg to draw back a bit and rebuild bridges? Looking ahead, what stands out about the first month of Winnipeg’s upcoming season? Will Arniel have a relatively smoother introduction as a full-time Jets coach?

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