Originally Posted by Sandman
Draft Thoughts:
I really thought I had Brayden Yager pegged, and I may have misled some people on what kind of player he is. I apologize profusely. Scouting reports on him have changed fairly drastically since the first third of the WHL season, when he was talked about glowingly- even compared somewhere to Patrice Bergeron in his approach to defense (can't find the article now). Brayden Yager is still an offensive weapon (78 points in 67 games for Moose Jaw), and they say his main weapon is his shot, which can be lethal- but why then, only 28 goals? Surely nothing to sniff at, but not the kind of numbers one would expect. It seems there are caveats to most aspects of Yager's game, from his shooting, to his playmaking, to his skating, and his defense. His inconsistent off-puck game is being criticized as well, and may be the root of his problems. At even strength, he doesn't seek out the high-danger areas to exploit his shot well enough, or recieve passes, and he spends too much time on the perimeter, with few touches, and not much on-puck time. Yager's vision and passing are good enough, but he often passes to low-danger. Many writers say his playmaking isn't his best trait, and he could be more accurate with his shot. In transition, his exits are good when he's passing, and not carrying, but his entries are inefficient. Defensively, he's inconsistent as well, and doesn't always succeed in keeping opponents out of danger areas, or separating them from the puck. He can be overly aggressive sometimes, passive other times. Another part of the problem is that he has a hitch in his skating- he has sound technique, but poor acceleration and edges. Fast in a straight line, but loses speed in crossovers. Perhaps his numbers are inflated in Moose Jaw, where they have the 8th-best goals-for, but have a pretty good top-6 in my estimation. I'm reading an article right now that compares him to Mike Hoffman. Yikes. I still think he'll be a good player at the NHL level, but he has a lot to iron out. He's been slipping in some mocks, out of the top-10, and I think he may slip some more, but I still see potential.
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