One-on-one: Yager aiming to prove he's 'getting ready' for NHL

SAGINAW, Mich. -- Kyle Dubas, in his season-ending media availability last month, named forward Brayden Yager as one of the prospects who could potentially earn an NHL role with the Penguins next season.

"I expect those two younger kids, Yager and (Owen) Pickering, to push," Dubas said. "Have a huge summer, assert yourself. We've shown here in this last stretch, if you're a young player and you're willing to push through the summer, you got a massive opportunity. You can have a shot here with us. That's what we need, desperately."

Yager, the Penguins' 2023 first-round pick, has another full season remaining before he's eligible to play in the AHL. His options next season are to either make the NHL roster or head back to junior hockey in the WHL. With two expiring contracts at forward in Jeff Carter and Jansen Harkins, and Matt Nieto starting the season on long-term injured reserve as he recovers from knee surgery, spots will be up for grabs.

Yager's not thinking that far ahead yet. He's got business to attend to first.

The Moose Jaw Warriors, Yager's junior team, won the WHL championship with a 4-0 sweep over the Portland Winterhawks earlier this month. With that came the opportunity to compete for the Memorial Cup against the OHL champion London Knights, QMJHL champion Drummondville Voltigeurs, and host team Saginaw Spirit.

"I think a big part of our group is resilience," Yager told me of the Warriors' postseason run Thursday on the eve of the Memorial Cup opener. "You know, I think throughout the season, we've had setbacks and stretches where we weren't at our best, and I thought we always found a way to bounce back. The resilience of our group is something special. We've spent a lot of time together, this team. It's pretty special.

Yager's been a big part of Moose Jaw's success this season, including in the postseason. He set career highs in goals (35) and points (95) in 57 games in the regular season, tying for second in team scoring and 14th in the WHL. He ranked third in both team and league scoring in the playoffs, with 11 goals and 27 points in Moose Jaw's 20 playoff games. His postseason tallies have been some pretty big ones, including in overtime:

Brayden Yager is the overtime hero in his hometown!!#ProtectTheHangar | #WHLPlayoffs | #LetsGoPens pic.twitter.com/uWCYe6WOAV

— Moose Jaw Warriors (@MJWARRIORS) April 27, 2024

... and while short-handed:

... and on the power play:

... and even to complete his first-ever postseason hat trick:

"I feel faster on the ice," Yager said of that increase in scoring. "I think just playing with a lot of confidence, using my shot and my play-making abilities. Being a year older in the league, obviously that helps too. And I thought I had some pretty special players around me."

Obviously, Yager can score. That lethal shot he's had for awhile has been on display. His playmaking has been evident this postseason too, often teaming up with his linemate and Kraken prospect Jagger Firkus on the scoresheet. Moose Jaw head coach Mark O'Leary told me though that the biggest strides he's seen Yager make this season are on the other side of the puck, becoming a more well-rounded player.

"I think a big part of it is his play without the puck," O'Leary said. "We know he can score goals, and he's got a heck of a shot, and he can skate. But I think his defensive responsibilities and how hard he checks, I think that's come on an awful long way. We've seen that."

O'Leary added that Yager's "really dug in" on his faceoffs this season, something he said was the result of a "wakeup call" Yager had in the Penguins' training camp in September. It was much more difficult to win draws against grown men and NHL-caliber centers in camp than against teenagers in junior, and Yager realized he had some work to do if he wanted to be successful as a center in the WHL. 

That's where Matt Cullen came in.

Cullen has an interesting role in the Penguins' front office. He's one of the Penguins' player development coaches, but he's based in the Fargo area in North Dakota. He's part-owner and a skills coach for the USHL champion Fargo Force, but works mostly virtually with Penguins prospects and NHL players throughout the year. Yager raved about Cullen's help on faceoffs and the opportunity to learn from a "legend" whose best attributes as a player included draws. 

How the heck do you teach faceoffs over the internet, though?

"He'll email me clips of faceoffs in like, five to 10 games or whatever," Yager explained. "Or I'll reach out to him and say, 'Hey, what do you think? You know, I've been struggling.' Certain things like that, and he'll just look over my past five to 10 games, send me clips, and then over the phone, explain and walk me through the draws and explain what I can do a little bit better, tweaking different little things on the draw. He's been awesome to me."

Cullen is one of multiple members of the Penguins' staff who do video work with Yager throughout the year, with director of player development Tom Kostopoulos being another one who does those regular check ins.

Yager's other big focus has been his weight and strength. He measured in at 5 foot 11 and 168 pounds in camp ... less than ideal for the pro game. While many players end up losing weight over the course of the regular season with the heavy workload of a full schedule of games and practices, Yager managed to put on weight throughout the year and now weighs in at 173 pounds. It's small progress, but putting on good weight takes time.

Penguins strength and conditioning development coach Jason Martin personally made multiple trips out to Moose Jaw, Saskatchewan to work with Yager and provide him with fundamentals in the gym to help Yager both add strength and stay healthy. Yager said he's getting a lot of post-skate workouts in to try to add that strength, and is coupling that with "eating as much as I can ... lots of protein shakes."

O'Leary said that the biggest area of Yager's game that could stand to grow is just preparing to play against bigger and more experienced players -- that includes that strength work, but some other parts of his game as well.

"I think if you're going to play pro hockey, you need to be able to play against men," O'Leary said. "A big part of that is the physicality. That's not just hitting per se, it's just being strong overtop of pucks and not being able to be pushed off of pucks. Those defensive responsibilities, a big part of it is having the strength to do it. So those are all things that you can control in the offseason. But again, it's just developing his game overall. And I know he'll do that."

When it comes to Yager potentially making the jump to the NHL next season, O'Leary wouldn't be surprised if that happens.

"I'd never count him out that way," O'Leary said. "I've just seen too much of an improvement every summer. Every year, really, he just takes another big step. So I expect the same thing out of him through this tournament, then over the course of the summer he'll make another big step, I'm sure. He'll give himself every opportunity to try to make the team. That's his goal and I hope he does."

Yager said that while bringing a Memorial Cup back to Moose Jaw is at the forefront right now for him, those NHL goals and potentially earning a spot out of camp next season remain in the back of his mind.

"You want to show that you're getting ready," he said. "I thought I had a pretty good year, a really good playoffs, and I'm looking to have a really good tournament here. (Making the NHL) is definitely something I'll be looking at when shifting my focus in the summer. I'm going to have a big summer and get as much out of it as I can and to go to camp with a lot of confidence."