Pens draft Brayden Yager 14th overall

[MalkinIsMyHomeboy]

I also don’t think it’s out of the realm of possibility that we deal him. We find a team who was high on him and can be patient in developing him and trade for a plug and play guy

[faftorial]

So you're already ready to trade him?

[MalkinIsMyHomeboy]

it’s all about value, baby. Cavs got Kevin Love for Andrew Wiggins and probably won a title because of it

[meow]

Please stop talking

[willeyeam]

it’s all about value, baby. Cavs got Kevin Love for Andrew Wiggins and probably won a title because of it

The pick was more valuable before we took someone with it

[MalkinIsMyHomeboy]

Please stop talking

[mikey]

Trading a player right after you draft him is what happens in the **** league...not an NHL thing historically...

As someone mentioned 14 is more valuable before the pick than after...

[MalkinIsMyHomeboy]

If the Pens believe he was a top 10 pick and believe that other teams subscribe to that notion then I don’t think it’d unrealistic. And if there’s no market for him right now then wait until free agency to see if some borderline teams end up missing out on talent and look to sell for a rebuild

and I’m not saying it’s likely. I’d say about 30% chance it happens

[mikey]

Well, to my knowledge, it's never happened with any top 100 pick in the history of the league...so, I'd say that 30% seems high...

I only put that caveat in there because I happen to know about the Tim Kennedy trade back in the 2000's because I talked to his agent fairly regularly back then...

But this just isn't a practice in a professional league.

[MalkinIsMyHomeboy]

I’m prescient. Or a moron. Probably

[mikey]

Brayden Yager (C) - Acceleration is a little weak, but surprising top speed. He's not very athletic looking. So you don't have fast twitch muscle activation, he doesn't really withstand contact very well, he's not super well balanced. But he has a good skating base. That actually worries me more because it's hard to materially improve athleticism like this at this point. I think he'll probably get quicker if he wants to, but I don't know what he's going to do in traffic from this perspective. There's something about his skating that looks a little odd to me, but it's not a bad thing. It looks like he doesn't have very strong legs, but it looks like he really drives through his hips. He doesn't require a lot of foot churn to get up to his top speed at his third or fourth stride. His top speed gets really up there, maybe even a 7.5 or 8 out of 9 at the top. But the first step is like a 5.5 or so, maybe a touch higher.

Didn't amaze with his hockey sense, particularly in sort situations. His angles and details just aren't there. He isn't dumb by any means. But he's not a true playmaker. He can't really manipulate lanes. I don't even really like how he intends to get open...you look at his NZ routes, and I don't care for his processor there either. He has hands, but it's not really enough now with his lackluster first-step explosiveness. When he's coming downhill, his hands are good enough to beat players though. Compete got better later, thought he worked pretty hard in the playoffs.

Shooting mechanics are really good. Again, hip driven. He can drop through his hip line and create some lethal velocity from wrist shots and catch and release shooting. His shot in stride is pretty impressive for this caliber of player, which is promising because I think he's going to have to attack off the rush at the next level. But his stick whip is impressive, it's almost Kessel reminiscent. Except Yager takes a lot more shots from distance and from the outside and he doesn't "recover" into post-shot positioning very attentively. Conversely, I don't like his passing process under pressure - both technically and mentally. I don't think he has that level of feel, I don't think there's a lot of area pass upside, I don't think there's a lot of "second layer" finding upside either. If that last point holds true, it takes a big bite out of his "B" game and will enforce him being more of a downhill player as a pro. So, then you worry about his pace/tempo control as a result of that...and then you start to connect those dots and you inevitably come up with "winger".

I don't get his stat line. I just can't see much evidence that he's consistently a good playmaker. Maybe he got a bunch of secondary power play assists or something. I think his NHL stat line is going to be like 21+16=37 or some such.

He backchecks but he's not hard to play against in the defensive zone. Looks a little timid about contact in general. There's not a lot of initiating of contact, not even faux initial contact points to use to spin off of. Maybe he's not confident in his frame, at 5'11" 170, I guess that makes sense. But you look at other guys - like 5'9" Gavin Brindley - and they relish the chance to use their low center of gravity and their ability to dig in underneath and through the hands of their opponents to get inside. I don't see that fight in Yager. So, there's a little gap for some players between work ethic and toughness to play against. I don't think he's tough to play against at all. But I think he's willing to work. I imagine that a lot of blog scouts are all over the place on this...he's probably a dual threat 200 foot player that should have gone top 10 according to the lot of them, but I don't see that - I see what they see, I get it, but I don't think that's how it breaks...

It's not my favorite thing to ever say here, but this feels like Jared McCann. Except, maybe he has another level in the playoffs.

3 to 9 scale for hockey sense, compete, skill, skating, physicality/misc. I might go: 5, 6.5, 7, 7, 4.5 | That grading is consistent with someone I wouldn't consider a true top six forward. It's also not someone I would draft in the 1st round. But I do get it. The top end looks like a top liner. I just don't know if that's how it breaks legitimately. I'm gonna stick with McCann - style and likely potential. It's rare that those two meet for me...

[Lelldorin]

It sounds like you used a lot of words to say that he sucks - or at least should have been picked in the second round.

I saw that some lists had him listed around 10 overall so as you say. Some scouts liked him.

Too bad that Benson was picked just before us. By the descriptions of the available players, I would probably have picked Wood (like most others).

[mikey]

I don't think he sucks. I think he has skill, he has a really high end shot, he has major skating upside. But this is one of those guys that plays more of a junior game than a pro game. Like Colby Barlow is more pro, for instance. Also not a very dynamic in space, but a shooter...but he has an identity already, he's physically very mature, he's a player, he plays in traffic. That's one of the things that I've learned over the years...there's junior amazing and there's junior -> pro transferable...it can be tough to spot.

And look, I'm just some guy. I have a good track record with this, but that's like having a good track record at predicting the weather...you only have to get 2 out of 7 to be really good, 3 out of 7 and you're all time haha

[Trip McNeely]

Thanks for the write up Mikey

Getting Jared McCann at 15 isn’t the worsttt thing…but it just sucks when there’s other guys available with higher ceilings

The one thing I think we can say is the scouting department needs a big time overhaul. That bob grove tweet that said that Dominic Simon is our most recent draft pick to get NHL time is incredibly damning even with the lack of first round picks

[Gaucho]

Getting a competitive version of McCann would be fine.

[NTP66]

Yeah, I'm just not going to write off this kid on day 2.

[Trip McNeely]

Yea I’m actually good with the pick. I’m a little weirded out though that the only Europeans we take are Finnish

[MR25]

This is what happens when your scouting department is run by a kid whose only qualification is "I'm the Assistant GM's son".

Hopefully Dubas gets a chance to overhaul things.

[Joegap]

I assume that is going to happen soon.. right?

[Beveridge]

Yeah, I'm just not going to write off this kid on day 2.

If you don't write him off within one hour of the pick, you might as well throw a HOF party for the kid.

[Trip McNeely]

I assume that is going to happen soon.. right?

I would assume that Spezza is going to be tasked with taking a deep dive into the scouting department

[mikey]

Yeah, I'm just not going to write off this kid on day 2.

Sir, this is the internet. I need you to form the strongest, most uninformed opinion possible and I want it on my desk by 5 o'clock today!

[Morkle]

Pryor or whoever head of scouting was said that Dubas told them to swing for high potential home run type guys in the draft.

[MR25]

Right, but it's "swing high" with the scouting knowledge and practices given down by Hextall/Elder Pryor...

[meow]

Yeah, I'm just not going to write off this kid on day 2.

You don’t even know what a write off is