The Winnipeg Jets and Pittsburgh Penguins swapped forward prospects Thursday, with the Jets landing Brayden Yager for the rights to Rutger McGroarty.
Yager was Pittsburgh’s first-round pick (14th overall) at the 2023 NHL draft.
The 19-year-old from Saskatoon had 35 goals and 60 assists in 57 regular-season games and 27 points (11 goals, 16 assists) in 20 playoff contests to help the Moose Jaw Warriors win the Western Hockey League title last season.
He added six points in four games at the 2024 Memorial Cup and he was named to the tournament all-star team.
“We’re very excited to add Brayden to the organization,” Jets general manager Kevin Cheveldayoff told reporters on Thursday. “I think he’s a very, very talented player [at] a very skilled position at centre where he can certainly make other players better around him.
“And that’s kind of what we’ve watched and viewed throughout his draft year and obviously, in subsequent scouting situations after that. Obviously, you never know what comes up and just because you don’t end up drafting a player, you don’t stop keeping tabs on him.”
The Jets selected McGroarty 14th overall in the 2022 draft. The 20-year-old from Lincoln, Neb., had 52 points (16 goals, 36 assists) in 36 games with the University of Michigan in 2023-24.
Cheveldayoff said McGroarty’s agent informed him during the draft combine in June that McGroarty “didn’t intend to sign” with Winnipeg.
“That’s the first inkling that we got, there was nothing that was going to come to fruition there,” Cheveldayoff said. “We sat down and asked the agent why and he didn’t have an answer, he didn’t have a reason. ... he just said he just didn’t feel right, it started in development camp where he just didn’t feel right.
“I met with Rutger face to face several days later and that was the same response as well.”
Both players competed at the 2024 world junior hockey championship in Gothenburg, Sweden. McGroarty was the captain of the United States and had five goals and four assists in leading his country to gold. Yager had two goals and three assists as Canada finished fifth.