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Brayden Yager just finished up a very successful junior season, now what? |
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Things have been a little quiet on the Penguins front lately while we ride out the rest of the Stanely Cup playoffs. Something Penguins related is Brayden Yager. His Moose Jaw team made the final four of the Memorial Cup after winning the WHL Championship. His team was eliminated before the final, but he was strong throughout the playoffs. In 20 playoff games he finished with 11 goals and 27 points. He’s by far and away the Penguins best non-goaltender prospect and the one I am most intrigued by.
His play earned him a spot on the Memorial Cup all star team
Aside from the goals and points Yager picked up some individual hardware for how he conducts himself on the ice. He is the CHL Sportsman of the year
There’s not a lot left for him in junior hockey. Developmentally he is a professional at this point. His floor should be the AHL. I tried to look into his status heading into next season and it is looking like he is going to be royally screwed over and have to return to the WHL barring an improbable inclusion on the Penguins roster.
The Penguins would have to file an appeal to get Yager eligible for the AHL. I don’t know if they have filed for one, but I know it likely won’t be granted. The Buffalo Sabres tried this route with Matt Savoie and were not granted the appeal. Savoie’s birthday is January 1st which is literally the first day after the cut off of the age necessary to move on. Yager is a January 3 and in the same boat. From
The Athletic’s Matthew Fairburn
The silver lining was that he was eligible for a conditioning stint with the Rochester Americans. Under the CHL’s agreement with the NHL, Savoie was otherwise ineligible to play in the AHL this season because he’s one day too young. The Sabres weren’t able to get a special exemption for him the way the Seattle Kraken did for Shane Wright, in part because Savoie played one season in the USHL during COVID-19, so he didn’t have as many CHL games as Wright did.
The CHL transfer agreement is a shameful agreement in its own right. The fact they are holding COVID against some of these players is even more shameful. You’d think the country who is a self-proclaimed hockey superpower wouldn’t be so soft and insecure about their ability to fill their junior hockey arenas with fans. Yet, here we are not allowing players to properly advance in their development so all the Gords in town still buy their junior hockey tickets. Wimpy behavior that continues to harm the development of the players they supposedly care about.
Thanks for reading!
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