What has gotten into NHL general managers this August? We have offer sheets. We have trades, and this is usually the quietest month of the hockey calendar. The latest two teams to link up for a deal are the Pittsburgh Penguins and Winnipeg Jets.
After months of speculation, the Jets finally traded top prospect Rutger McGroarty after reports that he wasn’t willing to sign his entry-level contract with the organization. McGroarty ends up in Pittsburgh and will likely sign his ELC to start his NHL career. Meanwhile, the Jets got a good-looking prospect in return in Brayden Yager.
Penguins Add Much-Needed Youth and Upside
We know the Penguins have one of the oldest rosters in the league and need to get younger to compete in the Metropolitan Division. Sidney Crosby is still at the peak of his powers, and the team has enough talent to be in the playoff conversation.
However, one thing they’re lacking is some scoring punch on the wing. Bryan Rust is still at the top of his game, while Michael Bunting played well for the Penguins after coming to Pittsburgh as part of the Jake Guentzel trade at least season’s trade deadline. There’s Rickard Rakell, too, but the Penguins need him to bounce back after a tough 2023-24 season.
Related: Penguins Acquire Rutger McGroarty from Jets
After those three, there’s not much scoring pop on the wing. There are some interesting depth players like Valtteri Puustinen and Drew O’Connor, but they’re bottom-six wingers more than anything else. That’s where McGroarty could be a difference, especially since chances are he will end up as a top-six winger for the Penguins at some point.
McGroarty was one of the Michigan Wolverines’ best players in his two years in Ann Arbor. He was a point-per-game player as a freshman and finished his sophomore season with 52 points in 36 games. He’s not just a skilled player, though, as he can play a heavy game and has a more well-rounded approach than Yager. That shouldn’t be surprising since he already measures 6-foot-1, 205 pounds. He already has an NHL frame.
Sure, McGroarty is only a prospect, so it’s hard to know what exactly he’ll be for the Penguins. At least in the immediate future, he could start as a middle-six/third-line winger before working his way up the lineup, but there’s top-six potential. One way to project that is by looking at NHLe, which tries to translate production from other leagues into NHL scoring.
Via JFresh’s prospect cards, McGroarty has an 80 percent chance of becoming an NHLer and a 15 percent chance of hitting star status.
Overall, the Penguins did pretty well. Yager’s 95 points in 57 games in the Western Hockey League (WHL) last season will raise an eyebrow and make you wonder if the Penguins truly upgraded by swapping their top prospect for McGroarty. But from the looks of it, McGroarty has more upside and a bit more to offer than Yager. The Penguins needed this type of young player in their system, and he should help them almost immediately.
Penguins grade: A-
Jets Did About as Well as They Could Have
The Jets were in a difficult spot here, but they did well to get a prospect who looks like he has an NHL future, too. Yager was a first-round pick (14th overall) in 2023 and seems to have developed nicely in his draft+1 year, as mentioned above.
While Yager isn’t as sure a bet to make the NHL as McGroarty, he still has pretty good odds. Via JFresh’s prospect cards, he has a 52 percent chance of becoming an NHLer and a 10 percent chance of hitting star status:
Yager is a different player than McGroarty, as he’s smaller in stature (5-foot-11, 180 pounds) and is more of a shooter; Yager does have a terrific release. Via The Hockey Writers’ Devin Little’s 2023 draft profile of Yager:
“The thing that jumps out at you about Yager’s game is his shot and his willingness to use it. He’s got a quick release and hits his target with deadly accuracy. He has 60 goals over his last two seasons in the Western Hockey League (WHL) and could probably have a lot more if he was asked to adopt a shoot-first mentality. His shot does not rival the best goal-scorers in the world, but it is dangerous enough that he could develop into a 30-goal scorer in the NHL at his peak.”
The Jets did well, considering the circumstances. Everyone knew McGroarty wanted out, and there were probably only a few teams he was willing to sign with, limiting their market for him. Yager is a legit prospect and could become a middle-six forward. I’m not sure they could have done much better, and even though Yager is not the prospect McGroarty is, the organization and their fans should be quite pleased with him.
Jets grade: B+
