Pittsburgh Penguins prospect Braden Yeager, the 14th pick in the 2023 NHL Draft and a former junior hockey championship winner, is ready to take his game to the next level.
Last season in the Western Hockey League was a successful one for Yeager as he led the Moose Jaw Warriors to a championship.
Moose Jaw defeated the Portland Winterhawks in four games in the championship series to win the title.
“I think it's going to be hard to win and it's going to be tough because it's a long season, but I thought our team was really focused, especially heading into the playoffs,” Yeager said.
Jagr has had a phenomenal individual season, scoring 35 goals and providing 95 assists in just 57 games, and will be looking to build on that success.
“I think every year I get better. I try to improve as much as I can and obviously I'm playing against some pretty good players and they're getting better,” Jaeger said, explaining his year-to-year improvement after scoring 28 goals and 78 points last season.
Yeager knows Tanner Howe, one of the Penguins' second-round picks in this year's draft, very well — the two grew up just an hour and a half apart and have played against each other numerous times.
“We were both always good players growing up and we lived pretty close to each other,” Yeager said, “so to be drafted at the same time and come full circle, it's kind of cool.”
At development camp last weekend, Jagr took advantage of every opportunity he could with the goal of making an NHL roster in the fall.
“I want to work on my game, especially in the defensive zone and faceoffs,” he said of his ambitions. “Also, getting bigger and stronger is the most important thing, and the coaches have been helping me get stronger while maintaining my weight.”
President of hockey operations Kyle Dubas said he wanted to add some youth to the roster, opening up the opportunity for a young player like Yeager to step into the spotlight.
Promising talent like Yeager has the opportunity to take the next step.
“Well, the first thing that comes to mind is I want to get on the team here in Pittsburgh,” he said. “I'm ready to go and I want to come into main camp ready to go and give it my all and be comfortable going up against some of the best players on the team.”
And, of course, Yeager is looking forward to playing with Sidney Crosby.
“He was my childhood hero. I watched him grow up and I wanted to be just like him because he's one of the greatest players of all time,” Yeager said.
