Winnipeg Recalls Red Hot Brayden Yager, Expected to Slot into Top Six

On Thursday, the Winnipeg Jets announced they had called up highly touted prospect Brayden Yager to the main roster. The move comes on the heels of the 21-year-old dominating the AHL with the Manitoba Moose, where he has 12 points in ten games.

The Saskatoon native was called up earlier this season for one game with the Jets but was sent back down while the team worked through roster construction after the return package in the Connor Hellebuyck trade arrived. Now Yager is back, still red hot, and looking to bring energy to a Jets team that could use it. 

Winnipeg is coming off a historic four-goal comeback, the latest of its kind in NHL history, and will hope to build on the win when it hosts the Vancouver Canucks on Thursday night. Jets captain Adam Lowry may have played a role in the call-up.

After the team's 7-0 loss to the Carolina Hurricanes on Sunday, its ninth straight defeat, Lowry said changes would need to be made and pointed to players with the red-hot Manitoba Moose as ones who should be looked at. 

The Moose have been off to a sensational start, with an 8-4-0-0 record, the third-best mark in the entire league. Manitoba will lose one of its best players in Yager, who is set to draw into the top six in a massive role, where he is projected to center Cole Perfetti and Dawson Mercer. 

Yager was the 14th overall pick in the 2023 NHL Draft, selected by the Pittsburgh Penguins, and the Jets landed him in a trade for Rutger McGroarty, whom Winnipeg had selected 14th overall the year before. Now Yager will look to be a key piece of a hopeful turnaround for the Jets' season.

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