Yager jumps on quick trip to Vegas

Brayden Yager was working his way through his game day routine on Sunday morning when the number for Mark Morrison popped up on his phone unexpectedly.

Why was the head coach of the Manitoba Moose calling him a few hours before an important American Hockey League game against the Texas Stars?

“It was crazy. I was eating my pre-game meal when Mark Morrison called me and told me I was going up,” Yager said Monday after the morning skate. “It was a quick turnaround. I had probably an hour to kind of get ready for the flight.”

Instead of heading downtown to play, Yager shifted his attention to packing for a two-game road trip with the Winnipeg Jets and made his way to the airport.

As the puck drops on Monday night at T-Mobile Arena, Yager will make his NHL debut for the Jets against the Vegas Golden Knights.

“You only get your first game once, so go out there, have fun, compete and just enjoy it,” said Yager, who opens the game on the fourth line with Moose teammate Nikita Chibrikov and veteran winger Nino Niederreiter, who has more than 1,000 NHL games on his resume.

“You only get your first game once, so go out there, have fun, compete and just enjoy it.”

Yager becomes the fourth member of the Jets organization to make his NHL debut this season, joining goaltender Thomas Milic, defenceman Elias Salomonsson and forward Danny Zhilkin.

With injuries to forwards Alex Iafallo and Vladislav Namestnikov, the Jets recalled Yager and Chibrikov under emergency conditions from the Moose on Sunday morning.

“It’s super exciting. I remember it just like it was yesterday when I played my first NHL game, so I know exactly how he’s feeling in that moment right now. It’s going to be cool to be part of his journey,” Niederreiter said.

“I definitely saw his speed in training camp, with the way he stickhandles. He’s obviously highly talented. You can tell that he’s a player who is very confident on the ice and wants to learn each and every day. That’s something I remember from training camp. It’s fun having him up here.”

With the Moose wrapping up a lengthy homestand on Sunday, Yager’s mom was in town visiting, so she was on hand for the call the family had been waiting for.

After a quick phone conversation with his dad and brother, the family got their respective travel plans in order as Yager got on the Jets’ charter and turned his attention to making the jump to the big club.

Yager, who was acquired from the Pittsburgh Penguins in the deal for Rutger McGroarty in August 2024, has enjoyed a strong season as a rookie pro.

His 10 goals and 30 points in 68 AHL games this season represent a steady campaign for someone known to be a dependable two-way player who is a strong skater with a good shot.

“I know exactly how he’s feeling in that moment right now. It’s going to be cool to be part of his journey.”

“We have a great group with the Moose, a lot of great leaders. I’m just adapting to faster, stronger, harder hockey,” said Yager, who was chosen 14th overall by Pittsburgh in the 2023 NHL Draft. “The biggest growth in my game is probably (with) the consistency. In the last stretch and finding my game and playing that (game) every night. It’s been good.”

The scouting report on Yager that Winnipeg Jets head coach Scott Arniel received from Morrison was solid.

“He’s had a real good year with the Moose and doing some really strong things, building more than just being a one-dimensional player,” Arniel said. “He’s worked at being a good two-way player. He was that, obviously, in junior, but it’s a different thing when you get to the pros.

“(With) young players, we talk about it often, when you get that (consistency) into your game, coaches can rely on you, your teammates can rely on you. That’s what he’s done a good job at. He’s been real consistent, whether that’s playing in his end of the rink or the offensive side, killing penalties, whatever it might be.”

By potentially getting into the final three games of the regular season, Yager will get a first-hand look at the pace during the stretch run, which should allow him to have a better idea of the things he’ll need to work on during the summer training to give him a shot at competing for a roster spot with the Jets in the fall.

For Chibrikov, who has six goals and 16 points in 53 games with the Moose, it’s an opportunity to show some growth after suiting up in eight games with the Jets earlier this season.

Chibrikov’s offensive output in the minors is down considerably from his first pro season in North America, when he had 17 goals and 47 points in 70 games, but some of that is related to coming back from a serious knee injury that limited him to 30 AHL games last season.

“He had to go and play consistently. Just trying to get him back up to speed,” said Arniel. “Like we did with (Brad) Lambert, we wanted to get a second look and see if he’s progressing along. He’s a winger, he can help us add some offence as well. I think early in the year he was battling the injury — coming back from the injury, not the injury itself — just (with) the timing and the pace.”

With defenceman Neal Pionk joining Iafallo and Namestnikov on the sideline, it opened the door for Colin Miller to return to the Jets’ lineup on the blue line on Monday for the first time since suffering a knee injury on Jan. 11 against the New Jersey Devils.

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