Prospect Info: 2023 14th Overall - Brayden Yager

[Pancakes]

Regardless this kid is instantly the best prospect we've had in years. Excited to watch his development.

 

[WickedWrister]

Seems like a kid that can bury the puck and has good wheels. I like it

 

[Big Friggin Dummy]

People compare his game to Burakovsky and, funny enough, Reilly Smith.

 

[Peat]

Wheeler's superlatives article had Yager as one of the best two-way forwards, with HMs for shooting, smarts, floor and ceiling.

Pronman's "Who's a centre" article has Yager as a maybe, with the pros being he's got the PKing/Compete/Skating, but doesn't have the standout abilities you'd expect for a 5'11" C.

Pronman has Yager as a top 5 shot

 

[Gurglesons]

Was hoping for a trade, too, but given no trades have happened, perhaps teams aren't willing to move firsts because of the depth of the draft.

Could’ve got us more value …

 

[Peat]

Regardless this kid is instantly the best prospect we've had in years. Excited to watch his development.

Feel like I was more excited for both Pickering and Poulin tbh. Might change my mind on more digging.

 

[Clare2904]

Jesse says 3 years until he is ready

 

[BlindWillyMcHurt]

re: his slight goal scoring drop... I don't see how anyone could really be too mad about that considering he literally doubled his helpers. @Jacob already said it earlier but him getting flak for his lack of playmaking then doing that the follow up year is maybe the most encouraging thing about him I've seen. You love to see that kind of attitude.

 

[Jacob]

He’s not the only one…

It’s not like it was a reach. McKenzie had him at 15, Hockey News at 10, Craig Button at 18.

He’s fast and he’s skilled and he produces. That’s like, everything we should be wanting.


I came to enjoy this guy’s channel and scouting reports. Had Yager in the 9-14 range.

 

[Big Friggin Dummy]

I like how, for weeks, this place is like "You're never gonna get anything at 14, trade the pick for literally anybody", they pick Yager, and suddenly people are like "Holy shit how could you possibly waste such a valuable pick on Yager".

 

[PensandCaps]

Last goal shows really good hockey sense. This guy seems NHL ready at Defense, shooting, skating, and smarts.

Hopefully he can develop a better passing game.

 

[MetalheadPenguinsFan]

Welcome to the ‘burgh Yagerbomb!!!!

 

[The Old Master]

Never dug much into him as I didn't see things about him that made me excited compared to the others

Now I am, I feel like I'm reading about different players with different profiles. Fantastic skater! Fantastic straight line speed but bad edges! Average skater! Good playmaker, bad playmaker, always engaged, sometimes a float, limited upside, big upside...

About the only thing agreed on is he's defensively responsible and he can really shoot.

I'm gonna keep digging but right now I'm a little ho-hum.

Also whoever is our WHL scout clearly knows how to make a pitch

peat; a lot of the disconnect is because of when they saw him. at the beginning of the year he was struggling. he was told he needed to work on his play making and he did. but when you focus on one thing you tend to let others go. and that's what happened instead of blowing down the ice he waited for his wingers so he could make a play, and was looking to pass when he should of just shot. at midseason things started to fall in place, and by playoffs he was carrying the team. so if you saw him in the start of the season you would have a low view of him if you saw him at the end of the year you would be thinking much higher of him.
edit; there is a risk to the pick but i feel we needed to swing for the fence and this was the guy to do it on.

 

[Pancakes]

Feel like I was more excited for both Pickering and Poulin tbh. Might change my mind on more digging.

He's more talented than both of them imo

 

[Ryder71]

Regardless this kid is instantly the best prospect we've had in years. Excited to watch his development.

Regardless this kid is instantly the best prospect we've had in years. Excited to watch his development.

Jesse Marshall made some good observations about him. Wasn't in the group of guys he liked, however doesn't believe he's a disaster.

 

[Pancakes]

People compare his game to Burakovsky and, funny enough, Reilly Smith.

Everyone always dreams of more with their first round pick but if he turned into either of those we should be quite happy with him. Go look up the historical 14th overall picks

 

[3ladesof5teel]

Ranked #17 by CONSOLIDATED RANKING
Ranked #22 by ELITEPROSPECTS.COM
Ranked #18 by FCHOCKEY
Ranked #14 by FLOHOCKEY/CHRIS PETERS
Ranked #24 by DAILY FACEOFF
Ranked #10 by THE HOCKEY NEWS
Ranked #15 by TSN/BOB McKENZIE
Ranked #30 by MCKEEN'S HOCKEY
Ranked #18 by TSN/CRAIG BUTTON
Ranked #11 by NHL CENTRAL SCOUTING (NA Skaters)
Ranked #17 by SPORTSNET
Ranked #19 by HPR/SHANE MALLOY
Ranked #20 by RECRUIT SCOUTING
Ranked #33 by DOBBERPROSPECTS
Ranked #12 by DRAFT PROSPECTS HOCKEY
Ranked #26 by SMAHT SCOUTING

It's a Crapshoot, he could be the next Esposito he could be the next Michael Grabner

 

[DesertedPenguin]

Could’ve got us more value …

Takes two to tango. When no trades are made, that tells me that the market for one isn't there.

 

[Zap Rowsdower]

I hope he's makes the NHL so they can say "Yager bomb!" when he scores

 

[Big Friggin Dummy]

None of us have any clue about this shit, but we all love pretending that we do based on some articles or youtube clips. He's Penguin property now, so hope for the best. Not the guy I would've picked, but anybody overly upset about this is probably just looking for anything to be pissed about and likely would've hated Perreault, ASP, Wood, Moore or whoever else. /shrug

See ya in like 5 years, Yager. Hope you don't turn out to be trash, but at 14, statistically, you will.

 

[DesertedPenguin]

Jesse says 3 years until he is ready

Probably the case for anyone who was available. At least two years out, anyway.

 

[Ryder71]

He's more talented than both of them imo

But that in and of itself isn't saying much.

 

[BlindWillyMcHurt]

He DOES seem a little all over the board. Both in ranking and opinions... both in general and certain aspects of his game. I get what people mean by the "Esposito vibes" but I think the big difference here is going to be work ethic and an already robust two way game... which by all accounts he has both of.

 

[Andy99]

Last goal shows really good hockey sense. This guy seems NHL ready at Defense, shooting, skating, and smarts.

Hopefully he can develop a better passing game.

Jesse was asked and said he’s three years away from the NHL at minimum

 

[WickedWrister]

Braden Yager trains with Shane Endicott lmfao

Yager named Canadian Hockey League Rookie of the Year

Stellar season for Warriors standout lands highest honour among first-year players from across major junior hockey

www.moosejawtoday.com