CRANBERRY, Pa. -- Penguins' first-round pick in the 2023 NHL Draft, Brayden Yager, showed up for development camp with no gear but his skates.
Using a brand-new stick, gloves, you name it, he still managed to solidify himself as the organization's top prospect not even a week after being drafted.
"It was obviously new to me, but [I] had a blast," Yager said of his development camp experience here at the UPMC Lemieux Sports Complex. "Obviously didn’t know anybody, really, coming in, other than (Owen Pickering). Everybody was super welcoming. That’s nice, especially not knowing anybody, but I had a lot of fun."
Yager, whose locker stall in the Penguins' locker room during camp was right next to Sidney Crosby's stall, had the chance to meet the Penguins captain Monday morning.
"I got to meet him today. That was crazy," Yager said. "Such a classy guy, and you see what he does on the ice every day. Great opportunity to learn from a guy like him, and I’m just super excited I got a chance to meet him."
Yager admitted he had some nerves about meeting Crosby, but the hockey legend -- as he's always done -- made Yager feel like he's right where he belongs.
"[Crosby's] a guy that I’ve looked up to my whole life," Yager said. "Definitely nervous when I see him in person, but he made it pretty easy. Super cool and genuine guy, so it was awesome."
While development camp is tailored to progressing the organization's prospects on the ice, it's just as much intended to familiarize the prospects with the facilities, the coaching and management staff, and their new teammates. The experience was an immensely beneficial one for Yager.
"Just getting used to the size of the players and the speed, as well," Yager said of what he gained from camp. "It’s obviously a little bit different than junior. I don’t think it’s a big evaluation camp, but I think just getting to know everybody and get familiar with everybody and get to have some fun on the ice with the boys."
PENGUINS
Brayden Yager on the ice for development camp Monday at the UPMC Lemieux Sports Complex in Cranberry, Pa.
TEN TAKEAWAYS FROM DEVELOPMENT CAMP
• Development camp wrapped up on Monday with a 3-on-3 tournament. The prospects were divided into three teams: Team (Kevin) Stevens, Team (Mark) Recchi, Team (Paul) Coffey. It was Team Stevens that ultimately emerged victorious after Tristan Broz scored in overtime of the final. The rest of the team included Zam Plante (F), Jordan Frasca (F), Cooper Foster (F), Emil Jarventie (F), Chase Yoder (F), Pickering (D), Emil Pieniniemi (D), Isaac Belliveau (D), Carter Schade (D) and Joel Blomqvist (G).
They had quite the victory celebration, which was Broz's idea:
• Anyone's performance in the 3-on-3 tournament -- and camp, in general -- should be taken with a major grain of salt as it relates to long-term outlook, but it seems like Broz has taken a nice step forward over the last year. He was confident with the puck on his stick and rather shifty during the tournament. His skating appeared to be a bit more refined, too. He'll turn 21 in October.
• Yager's shot ... well, let's just say it's as advertised. Dude can absolutely rip the puck. He has one of those shots that you can't truly appreciate in its entirety until you see it in person. It's crisp and jarringly heavy for someone his size. Better skater than I originally thought, as well. He scored three goals throughout the tournament and nabbed a couple of assists. Look no further for No. 1 in the Penguins' prospect pool.
• I'll remind once again that development camp performance isn't the be-all, end-all of player evaluation and projection, but I wish I was more impressed with where Pickering's game is at right now. Although he had a really nice assist to tie the final game of the tournament and send it to overtime, he generally struggled when forced to make plays under pressure and his shot really needs some work. At one point, he was sprung for a breakaway and fanned on his shot attempt, failing to get the puck on goal entirely. On a positive note, his long skating stride helped him create separation when he had an avenue to skate the puck himself. This was the kind of setting he should have been standing out in, but aside from his size, he didn't.
• Sam Poulin remains a pretty big question mark heading into next season after taking some time off last season for a mental health break, but other than Yager, he was easily the best player at camp. That was to be expected. His skill set was on full display during the tournament, as he scored three goals (one of which was an absolutely filthy move to his backhand) and had a number of assists. He's really strong on his skates, has a zippy shot, and I can't help but feel his stickhandling has improved. I can't imagine he'll push for an NHL roster spot out of camp, but I bet he'll be up with the big club at some point next season.
• On Day 2 of camp, each of the defensemen split off to the other sheet of ice at the Lemieux Complex to work on evading pressure in the corner and retrieving pucks that are rimmed along the wall. Pieniniemi struggled mightily in those drills. His frustration was apparent. I thought he recovered nicely during the tournament. He wasn't a standout by any means, but he looked like an entirely different player than the day before. He's going to be a project.
• Blomqvist was the best goalie at camp and is a big reason why Team Stevens won the tournament. Pardon my neanderthal analysis, but he just looks like he has the goods when he's standing in the crease. Subtle and sharp are two adjectives that come to mind. On an unrelated note, his all-white goalie pads are phenomenal.
• An under-the-radar prospect to keep an eye on over the next three-ish years is forward Luke Devlin. He showed up to camp absolutely jacked, part of which he credits to training with former Penguin Gary Roberts, who runs a high-performance hockey training facility in Toronto. At 6-foot-4 and over 200 pounds, Devlin skates very, very well with strong edge control and power. He's got a hefty shot, too. He scored twice in the tournament and made some really nice defensive plays.
• Defenseman Luca Fantilli, a late addition to camp, is the older brother of Adam Fantilli, who was selected third overall by the Blue Jackets in the NHL Draft last week. It was tough to get a read on him during the first two days of camp, as none of his individual skills really popped out in drills, but he looked pretty solid in the tournament. He's a smooth skater and doesn't have any glaring deficiencies, from what I could tell.
• Schade, a native of Mars, Pa., spent parts of four seasons playing for the Penguins Elite amateur hockey program and currently plays for Penn State University. He's known for his physicality, though that never was going to be very prevalent in a setting like development camp. He was playing well in the tournament before exiting due to a knee-on-knee collision.
