The trade is one for one. In case you missed the big news from the Jets earlier today, the Jets have made a trade involving one of their top prospects: Rutger McGroarty. The deal sees McGroarty leaving Winnipeg and heading to Pittsburgh, after reportedly seeking a trade earlier in the off-season. In return, the Jets have acquired Brayden Yager from the Penguins, who was one of their current top prospects. Both McGroarty and Yager were drafted 14th overall in their draft years (2022 for McGroarty and 2023 for Yager), and now each of them will get a fresh start with their new teams.

Before I break down this trade further and explain what Yager brings to the Jets organization, it’s important to look at each player in this prospect for prospect swap. Now yes, we’ve known for a while now that McGroarty appeared to not want to begin his NHL career with the Jets. Whether it was a lack of opportunity, a sense of not wanting to play for the organization, or something else, various reports have speculated what eventually led up to McGroarty wanting out.

McGroarty nows begins his NHL career with the Penguins, who signed him right after this trade to his 3-year entry level contract. The Penguins are one of the older teams in the NHL right now, and despite them trying to stay competitive at the moment during the tail end of Crosby, Malkin and Letang’s careers, a rebuild is evidently on the way.

This should provide a great opportunity for McGroarty, who enters an organization with not the strongest prospect pool at the moment. After tallying 52 points in 36 games with the University of Michigan last season, McGroarty will be returning to Michigan for 1 final season, before potentially joining the Penguins mid-season after the completion of his collegiate career. Jets fans may or may not have sour thoughts towards McGroarty for a while, but regardless it’ll be interesting to track how his career begins in Pittsburgh.

But enough about McGroarty, let’s look at the new guy joining the Jets organization, forward prospect Brayden Yager. The 19-year old from Saskatoon spent his 4 year junior career with the Moose Jaw Warriors of the Western Hockey League (WHL). Most recently, Yager racked up 95 points (35 goals and 60 assists) in 57 games, and helped the Warriors to the franchise’s 1st ever WHL Championship.

Yager has always been an intriguing prospect to me, and funny enough, this final NHL mock draft of the 2023 NHL draft had one writer suggest that the Jets should take Yager at 18th overall. Despite being a little on the smaller side at 5’11”, 180 lbs, Yager is a strong right-handed centre. He is most noticed on the ice for his agility, and he possesses a wicked shot which I’m sure Jets fans will come to nickname “Yager Bombs”.

So the big question then is this: how does the acquisition of Brayden Yager help the Jets prospect pool now and going forward? Overall, GM Cheveldayoff did well in this trade all things considered. The Jets replaced a forward prospect with another forward prospect, and at that someone who could have just as much upside as McGroarty. Centres are almost always at the top of a team’s priority list for prospects, and the Jets have added one in Yager who has the potential to be a 1st line centre in the future. If I had to “place” Yager somewhere in the Jets top 5 prospects right now, I would say that he sits comfortably at number 2 right behind Brad Lambert, who appears to be very close to NHL-ready.

This upcoming season, it’s unclear where Yager will play, but its highly likely that he’ll begin the 2024-25 season with the Moose Jaw Warriors in the WHL. Yager does not turn 20 until January 3rd, 2025, which is the current age requirement for playing in the AHL. While that certainly seems less than ideal that Yager can’t begin his “pro” career yet with the Manitoba Moose, Yager will be poised to dominate in the WHL in his 5th and final season. After the completion of the WHL season, we will hopefully see Yager get some action with the Moose at the end of their regular season.

Going forward, Yager could soon become the Jets new #1 prospect depending on his development, and he’s an exciting new acquisition that fans will be keeping an eye on throughout the season. Overall, the McGroarty trade appears to be a fairly equal swap of prospects that could benefit both the Penguins and Jets, so both teams should be happy with the return. With this trade done, all the Jets need to do now is get Cole Perfetti’s new contract signed, and the Jets will be ready to go for training camp, beginning with the “Young Stars Classic” on September 13th to 15th in Penticton, BC.