Yager ready to fly with the Jets

Brayden Yager understood the assignment.

By recording 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 game-winner for the Moose on Sunday against the Texas Stars, was officially recalled by the Jets on Monday morning.

The 14th overall pick in the 2023 NHL Draft was essentially the extra forward during line rushes, but did see some action with the penalty kill and the second power-play unit with the NHL club on Monday, so it’s still unclear whether or not 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 Morrisson 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 that is still searching for its first goal of the season from the second line, Yager looks like someone who might be able to help with the secondary scoring the Jets are searching for.

Yager got a taste of the NHL at the end of last season, suiting up for three games before returning to the Moose for the Calder Cup 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 AHL games last year before adding four assists in seven Calder Cup 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 yeah, just holding on to pucks, feeling confident, and yeah, just playing my game.”

Jets forward Cole Perfetti noticed the steps Yager had taken with his all-around game during training camp and wasn’t surprised to see him get this early opportunity to showcase that growth.

“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.

“To see the little details that he does so well, it’s pretty awesome to see that from a young guy. For me, that was a big thing that I had to learn, was to learn the 200-foot game and the little details and intangibles of the game, to help you offensively and help you find success in the league. It’s not easy, but he does those little things well. From the first time I started skating with him, that kind of jumped off the page to me.”

Speaking of the Moose, defenceman Elias Salomonsson (shoulder) made his season debut on Sunday and it sounds like the plan is for him to play at least one more game (and possibly more) with the primary affiliate 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 ultimate goal is to help get Salomonsson up to speed with his conditioning, but the other factor at play is that 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 and there is still no timeline for his potential 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.

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