Jets trade McGroarty to Penguins, get prospect Yager

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This article was published 22/08/2024 (411 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

It’s always a fool’s game to declare winners and losers before the dust has even settled on a big trade — and even moreso when the players involved are still at the prospect stage of their careers.

At first blush, however, Winnipeg Jets general manager Kevin Cheveldayoff has made the most of a bad hand, putting on his poker face and finding a resolution to a problem he would have much rather avoided.

Rutger McGroarty, selected 14th in the 2022 NHL Draft, was shipped to the Pittsburgh Penguins on Thursday in exchange for Brayden Yager, the 14th-overall pick in 2023. The Jets spent plenty of time scouting Yager given that they were drafting 18th a year ago, ultimately taking forward Colby Barlow with their selection.

“We are very excited to add Brayden to the organization. I think he’s a very talented player, a very skilled position at centre where he can certainly make other players better around him,” Cheveldayoff said in a Zoom call with media.

This is an intriguing one-for-one swap of potential young impact forwards that is sure to be debated for years.

Yager, who is 5-11 and 179 pounds, was a force in the Western Hockey League last year. The Saskatoon product had 95 points (35 goals, 60 assists) in 57 regular-season games with the Moose Jaw Warriors, then added 27 points (11G, 16A) in 20 playoff games for the league champions.

McGroarty, who was born in Nebraska, recently finished his second season with the University of Michigan and indicated to the Jets he didn’t plan to sign with them. Cheveldayoff said Thursday that news came out of the blue in June courtesy of a text from McGroarty’s agent.

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“I sat down and asked the agent why — he said he didn’t have an answer. He didn’t have a reason,” said Cheveldayoff.

“I went through a litany of questions to the agent to see, was it player development, was it that we didn’t burn a year (by signing him this past spring and getting him in a game)? He says, nope, no, no. He just said he just didn’t feel right. I said, well, I guess I would just like to have an answer.”

Cheveldayoff ultimately got a face-to-face with McGroarty and said he came away without any further clarity.

“We are very excited to add Brayden to the organization. I think he’s a very talented player, a very skilled position at centre where he can certainly make other players better around him.”–Winnipeg Jets General Manager, Kevin Cheveldayoff

“He said that when he got to development camp here (in 2023) he put the jersey on, it became real and it just didn’t feel right at that time, and it culminated with that,” said Cheveldayoff.

“So again, if there’s a specific reason, Rutger hasn’t told us.”

There has been speculation it’s based on the fact the Jets weren’t going to guarantee McGroarty an NHL job immediately this fall and indicated he may have to spend some time working on his game in the American Hockey League.

“We have never had that conversation once,” said Cheveldayoff.

So would McGroarty have been given every chance to crack the big-league roster off the hop?

“We make our decisions for the greater good of the club. And all the players that are on it, they earn their opportunities and that’s never going to change,” said Cheveldayoff.

“As far as we’re concerned here, from the drop of puck in training camp anybody has a great shot at making this team if they deserve it and earn it.”

McGroarty has a big personality to go along with his big frame, but once it became clear he had at least one foot out the door, moving him became necessary. However, Cheveldayoff made it clear he wasn’t going to rush into a deal unless it made sense for the Jets, who still owned his rights for another two years.

After a few potential deals got close to, but not across, the finish line at the NHL Draft in Las Vegas, Cheveldayoff regrouped and looked at other options. He was willing to wait — knowing McGroarty could be a valuable chip at the trade deadline in 2025 — but the preferred resolution arrived this week as Penguins GM Kyle Dubas made him an offer he couldn’t refuse.

“There was a great deal of conversations that were had with various different teams,” said Cheveldayoff. “Some were very short, some maybe had a little more legs. This is one ultimately we felt was the proper direction for the organization.”

McGroarty now goes to a team that requires some youth and provides him with a direct path to the NHL. Less than an hour after the trade on Thursday, he signed a three-year entry level deal with the Penguins.

It isn’t easy for a draft-and-development team like the Jets to part ways with a top prospect before he’s even suited up for a game. Retention of those drafted and developed prospects is essential for a team to remain competitive, but this outcome could prove to be favourable for Winnipeg.

Yager is a year younger than McGroarty, has been playing centre in junior and has already signed his entry-level contract. The fact he grew up one province over probably doesn’t hurt the cause, either.

“A kid from the prairies, to get to play for a prairie team, that’s something he was pretty proud of,” said Cheveldayoff, who spoke with Yager by phone.

Here’s what McKeen’s draft report had to say about Yager last year:

“If there’s a specific reason, Rutger hasn’t told us.”– Kevin Cheveldayoff

“A sturdy two-way pivot who would be a welcome addition for all 32 NHL organizations. He’s a trustworthy workhorse that a coach can send over the boards and rely on in any situation and is already playing as the first-line centre for the Warriors. He’s good on the powerplay, he’s good on the penalty kill, he’s good at matching up against the best players on other teams, and he’s good in the dying minutes of a game whether you’re trying to defend a lead or tie the score up. He’s quite strong and compact, which helps him out in various ways, whether that’s staying on his feet as he fights through checks or generating a lot of power through his shot. Speaking of his shot, it’s a major selling point for him and is his single best attribute.”

While Yager is versatile enough to play the wing (and did so for Canada at the 2024 World Junior Hockey Championship), centre is his natural position. Given his age (he turned 19 on Jan. 3), Yager isn’t eligible to play for the Manitoba Moose this season, so he’s likely to return to the WHL, unless he earns a spot on the Jets with an excellent training camp.

Even if that’s the case, there’s no guarantee he would be ready to stick around beyond nine games, which would burn the first year of the entry-level deal.

While the McGroarty era ends with a whimper after he was essentially the King of Kensington at Jets development camp in 2023, Yager offers hope of brighter days ahead.

Even for the crowd that wanted the Jets to try and turn McGroarty into more immediate help, Yager is precisely the type of player the organization is going to need as they move forward and make decisions on the futures of wingers like Nikolaj Ehlers and Kyle Connor.

For all of the comparisons to what the Dallas Stars have done by integrating the likes of budding young stars Wyatt Johnston and Logan Stankoven into their lineup while competing for top spot in the Western Conference, this is a move that can eventually help the Jets do the same thing.

Having a young player strong arm his way out of town is never a good thing for an organization, but this is another example of Cheveldayoff seemingly being dealt a lemon and turning it into potential lemonade.

mike.mcintyre@freepress.mb.ca

X: @mikemcintyrewpg

ken.wiebe@freepress.mb.ca

X: @WiebesWorld

Mike McIntyre
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Mike McIntyre grew up wanting to be a professional wrestler. But when that dream fizzled, he put all his brawn into becoming a professional writer.

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Ken Wiebe
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Raised in the booming metropolis of Altona, Man., Ken Wiebe grew up wanting to play in the NHL, but after realizing his hands were more adept at typing than scoring, he shifted his attention to cover his favourite sport as a writer.

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