Yager ready to fly with the Jets
Forward gets recalled to The Show after red-hot start with the Moose
Manitoba Moose forward Brayden Yager (left) has five goals and four assists in six games. BROOK JONES / FREE PRESS FILES
BRAYDEN Yager understood the assignment. With five goals and nine points in six American Hockey League games with the Manitoba Moose to open the season, it was clear Yager brushed aside any lingering disappointment of being the last cut by the Winnipeg Jets following a strong training camp.
Yager, who set up the tying goal and scored the winner on Sunday against the Texas Stars, was recalled by the Jets on Monday morning.
The 14th overall pick in the 2023 NHL Draft was the extra forward during line rushes, but did see some action with the penalty kill and the second power-play unit on Monday. It’s unclear whether Yager will be in the lineup against the St. Louis Blues.
“He had a good camp and he’s another young player that’s really starting to show that he’s getting closer,” said Jets head coach Scott Arniel. “We’ll take this game-to-game, see where we are with things. But it’s not going to be a guy that’s going to sit for an extended period of time up here. We don’t want that. We don’t want that to happen.”
Yager got a phone call from Moose head coach Mark Morrison on Sunday after getting home from the rink that he had been promoted to the NHL.
“(The plan) was to go drive offence and drive the play and try to be the best player,” said Yager, answering a question about the message from Arniel and Jets general manager Kevin Cheveldayoff after his demotion. “Morrison giving me lots of ice time and an opportunity to do that obviously helps, and (I was) playing with some pretty good players down there. So yeah, nice to get off to a good start and (I will) try to continue that here.”
For a team still searching for its first goal of the season from the second line, Yager might be able to help with secondary scoring. He got a taste of the NHL at the end of last season, suiting up for three games before returning to the Moose for the playoffs.
“The first three strides is a big thing for the NHL,” said Yager, who had 10 goals and 30 points in 68 regular-season games last year and added four assists in seven playoff games.
“Getting the puck and moving your feet, and another thing I kind of found as I played the games was just puck protection. Being able to hold onto the puck, and then the skill kind of takes over. So just holding on to pucks, feeling confident, and just playing my game.”
Jets forward Cole Perfetti noticed the steps Yager had taken with his all-around game during training camp.
“He plays the right way. He has the skill, he can make those plays. He’s got a good shot, he’s got good hands, he can skate,” said Perfetti. “But he’s not cheating the game, he’s not giving up defensively to cheat for a little bit of offence. He plays a good 200-foot game. He plays the right way and he’s an honest player. As a young guy, that’s pretty cool to see (for) a guy coming into the league.”
Speaking of the Moose, defenceman Elias Salomonsson (shoulder) made his season debut on Sunday. He’s likely to play at least one more game before he’s recalled by the Jets.
“Yeah, I think that you can see his ability to move, his hockey sense, you see all that stuff very quickly,” said Arniel. “For him, it was more of the feel, about the contact. This would be the first time he’s played any kind of full contact game in a very long time. Him playing in those games, those pace games, those sort of more physical games, they’ll certainly help him.”
The goal is to help get Salomonsson up to speed with his conditioning, but the other factor at play is the Jets will most likely need to clear a roster spot for Connor Hellebuyck by Friday if the goalie hasn’t been traded.
Defenceman Josh Morrissey (wrist) was running the stairs during Monday’s on-ice workout. There is no timeline for his return to the lineup, with Arniel saying he would be re-evaluated in another week or two.
Forward Walker Duehr (lower body) has been medically cleared to return to action and was placed on waivers on Monday afternoon with the intent of being assigned to the Moose if he isn’t claimed on Tuesday.