Penguins' Noel Acciari & Rutger McGroarty unavailable for Pittsburgh

NHL training camps begin this week and for the Pittsburgh Penguins, there's a lot of unknown this season. While the team is trying to have a bounce-back season and once again get back into the Stanley Cup Playoff race, it's not necessarily starting on the right foot. Both Noel Acciari and Rutger McGroarty were not cleared to start training camp.

The two forwards were not medically cleared to begin camp, and it turns out they weren't the only ones, as you can add Tanner Howe, Bill Zonnon, along with defenceman Peyton Kettles, who are all nursing some form of injury.

Both McGroarty and Acciari were expected to play a big role among the Penguins' bottom six this season, and after being shut down to end last season, it doesn't appear they were able to get back to 100% this summer. General manager Kyle Dubas will speak to the media on Thursday, and is expected to provide more details then.

Rutger McGroarty, Noel Acciari, Tanner Howe, Bill Zonnon and Peyton Kettles will attend camp but are injured and not medically cleared, per #Pens. https://t.co/Qw6YNB6QyH

— Wes Crosby (@OtherNHLCrosby) September 17, 2025

McGroarty could be an x-factor for the Penguins this season, and Dubas is hopeful he's a huge part of the team's core moving forward. In 60 games with Wilkes-Barre/Scranton last year, the 21-year-old scored 14 goals and 25 assists for 36 points. The former Michigan product dressed in eight games with Pittsburgh, collecting three points, including scoring his first NHL goal on April 3 against the St. Louis Blues. He suffered a lower-body injury a few games later that kept him out of the final week of the season.

Expect to hear Dubas provide more definitive timelines for both Accairi and McGroarty on Thursday, and for Penguins fans, let's hope both players aren't out long term, as they'll need all hands on deck to right the ship this season.

Photo credit: Talia Sprague-Imagn Images