By Russ Cohen
There’s not often a fair prospect for prospect trade—the recent deal with the Pittsburgh Penguins trading Brayden Yager to the Winnipeg Jets for Rutger McGroarty was just that. First, I don’t care that both are first-round picks and where somebody has them ranked. That’s just me. I have my ideas, and I’ll share them here.
I like both prospects. I’ve seen a ton of McGroarty in a lot of different situations. He plays the left-wing position well. He’s a power forward in the making. His college play was good, but it could have been better last season. The 52 points he put up in Michigan were good. The 16 goals could have been much better. He was struggling to score goals for a while.
He’s not the fastest player but he’s smart. I like his hockey I.Q. and his maturity as a player. He is closer to the NHL than Yager. But that doesn’t mean I’d place him in Pittsburgh next season. Not just yet.
I like his leadership abilities. He’s calm under pressure. He likes to score dirty goals. Coaches trust him to be out on the ice in key situations. Since Jason Spezza is now in charge of Scranton. Let him work with him and if McGroarty is showing signs to give him a cup of coffee to charge him up next season. Then do it. But leave him in the AHL for the season to develop. That’s what is best for him. The Penguins are trying to rush everything because the window is closing on their core, but you shouldn’t let that affect how you develop your future players. I think McGroarty will be a good third-liner with a slight chance of being a second-line player in the future.
Yager has a higher ceiling than McGroarty
Brayden Yager is an interesting player. I think he’s going to have trouble being a center. He just doesn’t win enough face-offs, and he gets outbattled at times but that doesn’t mean he’s a bad player. It just means he can be a more effective scorer on the wing, that’s all.
He plays in all situations. There’s a reason for that. He’s very smart. What he doesn’t have in speed, he makes up with hockey sense. He’s an excellent playmaker. He can draw two players to him on the power play and make the defense think he’s shooting and then dish off a perfect pass. Yager has a fast-release wrist shot that is deadly. He had 15 goals and 29 assists on the power play; part of the makeup of his 95-point season.
He must get physically stronger and quicker. He’s dangerous once he enters the offensive zone. If he can get there faster, he can be a big threat at the next level. I still think he’s a third-line NHLer in the future with second-line potential. If he hits, the offense will be the reason that he plays in the top six. That’s where the high ceiling comes in compared to McGroarty’s high floor.
Let’s revisit this in a few seasons!
