Prospect Info: 2023 14th Overall - Brayden Yager

[JTG]

I think I've seen every single highlight there is for Yager at this point. There are a few things that I think could make him an NHLer sooner rather than later. He ALWAYS has his stick down and ready, he plays around the net, and he has a deceptive shot. He is a playmaker's dream as a winger.

 

[chethejet]

He is the plan for playing center in a couple years. Sid gone and Pens have maybe Poulin, Yager, in the pipeline. Both look like bottom 6 or in Yagers case maybe a second line guy.

 

[The Old Master]

I think I've seen every single highlight there is for Yager at this point. There are a few things that I think could make him an NHLer sooner rather than later. He ALWAYS has his stick down and ready, he plays around the net, and he has a deceptive shot. He is a playmaker's dream as a winger.

just to add a little, he's willing to put in the work needed to improve. he just needs to add strength. and he'll be good to go. edit; get him on the ov joy-juice

 

[CheckingLineCenter]

Loved him in 2021-22. Really thought DY-1 Yager could be a superstar in the NHL, looked like a MacKinnon.

Have really dived in again since we took him and tbh my opinion has really soured. I don’t love this pick. As it sits, I think he looks like a middle 6 winger on a good day. I cannot believe how much better his skating looked a year earlier.

If he gets back to that explosive, confident attacking player though…

 

[Peat]

Loved him in 2021-22. Really thought DY-1 Yager could be a superstar in the NHL, looked like a MacKinnon.

Have really dived in again since we took him and tbh my opinion has really soured. I don’t love this pick. As it sits, I think he looks like a middle 6 winger on a good day. I cannot believe how much better his skating looked a year earlier.

If he gets back to that explosive, confident attacking player though…

The optimist's view of this pick is that he has an awkward season due to playing with less instinct and he's going to bounce back big this season due to having integrated his improvements, and it'll look like we got a top 5 pick.

Optimists have a pretty bad shooting percentage in this sport tho...

 

[SomeDude]

Loved him in 2021-22. Really thought DY-1 Yager could be a superstar in the NHL, looked like a MacKinnon.

Have really dived in again since we took him and tbh my opinion has really soured. I don’t love this pick. As it sits, I think he looks like a middle 6 winger on a good day. I cannot believe how much better his skating looked a year earlier.

If he gets back to that explosive, confident attacking player though…

he was originally touted as more of a boom or bust type player last year, IIRC. I think he made it a point to play a more balanced, well-rounded game this year to prove he was more than a pure offensive higher risk type of prospect.

We’ll see where he ends up. He was right in the cluster of like a dozen players you could argue for picking in the 8-20 range so there really was no “wrong” pick unless you went completely off the board. Time will tell who ends up the best of the bunch but Yager has as good a chance as any.

 

[Lust for Life]

He is a playmaker's dream as a winger.

Let's play him with Granlund

 

[The Old Master]

Let's play him with Granlund

grany couldn't keep up. let him get stronger this year and then move him up as Geno's center. (for all the reasons i have previously laid out.)

 

[Peat]

Have Granlund... center Malkin.

Really.

And I thought I had heard it all on here.

Think he's talking Yager, not Granlund.

I wouldn't have Yager centre Malkin, but I am kinda praying he can be ready in one as Yager's best highlights look like the sort of fast sniper Malkin has really thrived with. I'd love to see them play together.

 

[BlindWillyMcHurt]

Think he's talking Yager, not Granlund.

I wouldn't have Yager centre Malkin, but I am kinda praying he can be ready in one as Yager's best highlights look like the sort of fast sniper Malkin has really thrived with. I'd love to see them play together.

My mistake.

I don't think about that possibility much as I doubt it ever happens. By that time Malkin will be like 40 and probably even more worn down that he typically would be from playing with increasingly worse players every year he gets older.

Now if I had a time machine... well... I uh... wouldn't waste it on that I guess.

I have to wonder if Yager even makes it as a center TBH

 

[The Old Master]

My mistake.

I don't think about that possibility much as I doubt it ever happens. By that time Malkin will be like 40 and probably even more worn down that he typically would be from playing with increasingly worse players every year he gets older.

Now if I had a time machine... well... I uh... wouldn't waste it on that I guess.

I have to wonder if Yager even makes it as a center TBH

yeah! i was talking about yager sorry i did write that poorly

 

[BlindWillyMcHurt]

yeah! i was talking about yager sorry i did write that poorly

It's all good.

I was always the guy that failed the trick test in school that taught you to read instructions before starting.

 

[Peat]

My mistake.

I don't think about that possibility much as I doubt it ever happens. By that time Malkin will be like 40 and probably even more worn down that he typically would be from playing with increasingly worse players every year he gets older.

Now if I had a time machine... well... I uh... wouldn't waste it on that I guess.

I have to wonder if Yager even makes it as a center TBH

I was talking about him playing NHL in 24.

Which is a pretty ambitious take I know, but I think the number of guys from 10+ making it in D+2 has gone up recently. Jarvis, Lundell, and Mercer were all in the league in D+2 from '20, Wyatt and Johnston from '21.

I'd bet against Yager doing it, once because you always bet on it and twice because he's screamingly inconsistent right now, but narratives can change a lot in a year and the raw ingredients are there in bucketloads. I am really taken by the best version of what Yager can be.

I also think I bet against Yager making it as a C. If he becomes a C, it's probably because his offensive toolkit hasn't taken off like it can.

 

[BlindWillyMcHurt]

I was talking about him playing NHL in 24.

Which is a pretty ambitious take I know, but I think the number of guys from 10+ making it in D+2 has gone up recently. Jarvis, Lundell, and Mercer were all in the league in D+2 from '20, Wyatt and Johnston from '21.

I'd bet against Yager doing it, once because you always bet on it and twice because he's screamingly inconsistent right now, but narratives can change a lot in a year and the raw ingredients are there in bucketloads. I am really taken by the best version of what Yager can be.

I also think I bet against Yager making it as a C. If he becomes a C, it's probably because his offensive toolkit hasn't taken off like it can.

Ohhhhh I gotcha. Yeah that seems really ambitious to me and not at all how the Penguins like to bring guys along. Which honestly is a tad too conservative to me (and a big reason they likely haven't developed even third and fourth liners to this point... they hardly try) but I don't see them giving him a spot then unless he just overwhelms them. And though I wish it he just doesn't seem like that dominant a talent.

Then again one year CAN change a lot. And if we are really to believe that he spent most of last year working on adding layers to his game then next year could be quite the breakout.

 

[Peat]

Ohhhhh I gotcha. Yeah that seems really ambitious to me and not at all how the Penguins like to bring guys along. Which honestly is a tad too conservative to me (and a big reason they likely haven't developed even third and fourth liners to this point... they hardly try) but I don't see them giving him a spot then unless he just overwhelms them. And though I wish it he just doesn't seem like that dominant a talent.

Then again one year CAN change a lot. And if we are really to believe that he spent most of last year working on adding layers to his game then next year could be quite the breakout.

I think it's hard to say what the Penguins do as Dubas is brand new here and Sullivan hasn't been part of the decision making on a very talented juniors player here since... well, okay, he hasn't. If you look at Toronto, they've been somewhat aggressive under Dubas. Both Knies and Nick Robertson played playoffs in D+2 and Sandin split time between Maple Leafs and Marlies in D+2.

As for Yager as a talent... I don't think he was that dominant in his draft year either. I'm not betting on it. But as @CheckingLineCenter said, he looked like he could be that dominant in D-1. And you said it about what could be the breakout if he's the player he was in D-1 only more rounded and better.

I cannot emphasise how much I wouldn't bet on it, but it's fun to dream about. Pickering was never going to be an early breakout because he's a giraffe growing into his body. Poulin had a moment where it looked like he could before the mental health problems took over, but it didn't look like he'd so as more than a useful complimentary player to begin with.

Yager, I think there's something to maybe dream about. I don't think anyone knows who Yager will be this season, I'm still not super high on the pick given the wide variety of scouting reports on him, but the best version, the best highlights, the way he can go and go and the way he can finish, wow.

 

[Jaded-Fan]

I like the fact that he worked hard to fix a perceived weakness at the expense of scoring, and likely draft position. It was a Crosby sort of thing to do.

Not comparing his skills to Sid obviously. Or even work ethic.

But that he made that choice counts for something.

 

[Big Friggin Dummy]

I like the fact that he worked hard to fix a perceived weakness at the expense of scoring, and likely draft position. It was a Crosby sort of thing to do.

Not comparing his skills to Sid obviously. Or even work ethic.

But that he made that choice counts for something.

Yeah, that seems to be the reason for the notable drop off in production for a good number of people.

We'll see what happens. I don't think Yager or Pickering have any chance of contributing while Sid's still playing, so we're a ways away. Hope they both turn into solid supporting cast players for the next chapter though.

 

[Sidney the Kidney]

Yeah, that seems to be the reason for the notable drop off in production for a good number of people.

We'll see what happens. I don't think Yager or Pickering have any chance of contributing while Sid's still playing, so we're a ways away. Hope they both turn into solid supporting cast players for the next chapter though.

They'll be the next generation's versions of Sid and Tanger.

 

[canadianguy77]

Ohhhhh I gotcha. Yeah that seems really ambitious to me and not at all how the Penguins like to bring guys along. Which honestly is a tad too conservative to me (and a big reason they likely haven't developed even third and fourth liners to this point... they hardly try) but I don't see them giving him a spot then unless he just overwhelms them. And though I wish it he just doesn't seem like that dominant a talent.

Then again one year CAN change a lot. And if we are really to believe that he spent most of last year working on adding layers to his game then next year could be quite the breakout.

I think you waste a lot if you wait too long for the kids who have that quick outside step coupled with a good shot. Imo, he has both. And he seems like he's committed to a strong 2-way game. Sullivan might like that if he can get past his age and NHL experience hang-ups.

I honestly wouldn't be too surprised if we see him get a taste of the good life here and there in 24-25.

 

[JTG]

I see some reports talking about how he is an average skater, but I sort of see Jeff Skinner in the way he moves around. He may not be the fastest straight line guy, but he can really move around in tight.

 

[The Old Master]

I see some reports talking about how he is an average skater, but I sort of see Jeff Skinner in the way he moves around. He may not be the fastest straight line guy, but he can really move around in tight.

no wonder his rankings where all over. a lot of guys thought that he needed work on his edges, but his straight line speed was fine. he seems like he can skate wide around players fairly easy.

 

[Turin]

Loved him in 2021-22. Really thought DY-1 Yager could be a superstar in the NHL, looked like a MacKinnon.

Have really dived in again since we took him and tbh my opinion has really soured. I don’t love this pick. As it sits, I think he looks like a middle 6 winger on a good day. I cannot believe how much better his skating looked a year earlier.
If he gets back to that explosive, confident attacking player though…

Unless it’s injury related, when your skating gets worse as a teenager it’s entirely in your control to get back to where you were.

 

[JTG]

no wonder his rankings where all over. a lot of guys thought that he needed work on his edges, but his straight line speed was fine. he seems like he can skate wide around players fairly easy.

I don't see that. He can move around the net and in tight. His skating all around would be better served with some improvement, but that's going to come. I personally think he'll be NHL ready in less than 2 years, and should walk right into a top 9 role. He needs to be on the Colby Armstrong WBS diet. Eat 10,000 calories and go to the gym.

 

[HandshakeLine]

I don't see that. He can move around the net and in tight. His skating all around would be better served with some improvement, but that's going to come. I personally think he'll be NHL ready in less than 2 years, and should walk right into a top 9 role. He needs to be on the Colby Armstrong WBS diet. Eat 10,000 calories and go to the gym.

 

[chethejet]

He has the shot and has enough speed to be a good center. He is the first of a higher pick that will begin the rebuild of the farm that will be critical to the transition form the glory days of Sid and Geno. Pickering is at best a second pairing LD. He needs some serious development in his game.