Yager, two-way center with a lethal shot, floored to join Crosby's team

NASHVILLE, Tenn. -- Kyle Dubas got a number of calls from other teams leading up to Wednesday's first round of the NHL Draft, inquiring about possibly trading for the Penguins' first-round pick.

In the end, no offers were more enticing to Dubas and the Penguins than the opportunity to draft WHL forward Brayden Yager with the 14th overall pick.

The Penguins certainly could have used some high-end forwards in their prospect pool, especially ones with the ability to play center. That wasn't why the Penguins drafted Yager, though. Dubas said after the pick was made that Yager was simply the best player available on their draft board, regardless of position. Yager wasn't a reach by any means in their eyes -- rather, he was someone the scouting staff was hoping would "drop" to No. 14.

The Penguins' interest in Yager isn't new. There are only so many evenings in the week of the scouting combine, and only so many opportunities to take prospects out to individual dinners with members of the front office. They took at least three prospects out that week, and Yager was one of them.

It's not difficult to see why Yager was so high on the Penguins' list. He has a real shot to be a future top-six center for this team.

Yager, 18, is a native of Saskatoon, Saskatchewan, and is a right-handed center for the Moose Jaw Warriors in the Western Hockey League. This past season was Yager's second full season in the WHL, a year in which he recorded 28 goals and 50 assists in 67 games, finishing No. 2 in scoring on Moose Jaw behind only 2022 second-round pick Jagger Firkus. Yager continued that pace in the postseason, with six goals and 10 assists in 10 games.

Yager is capable of playing wing as well, and he did so growing up, but Moose Jaw has used him primarily as a center over the last two years. While he remains comfortable with both positions and is open to playing wherever there's a fit for him, he does have a preference for playing center.

Yager's strengths are his two-way play, his shot and his playmaking abilities. That playmaking came out a bit more this year, a result of an increased focus on playmaking. In his rookie 2021-22 season in Moose Jaw he was primarily known as a shooter, and scored six more goals (34) in 67 games, but half the amount of assists (25) than he had this season. That 59-point season earned him the title of WHL Rookie of the Year. He later won CHL Rookie of the Year, awarded to the best rookie among the WHL, OHL and QMJHL Rookies of the Year. It's a pretty prestigious award, with the previous four CHL Rookie of the Year winners being Shane Wright, Quinton Byfield, Alexis Lafreniere and Nico Hischier.

Something that the Penguins liked about Yager was being able to see him perform against high levels of talent. Moose Jaw plays in a stacked East Division in the WHL, and two of the league's four teams to cross the 100-point threshold this season were in Moose Jaw's division in the Winnipeg ICE and Saskatoon Blades. A third team -- the Regina Pats -- weren't quite as strong as a team, but had a generational talent in Connor Bedard to worry about.

"He competed as a center in a really difficult division," Dubas said. "Against Winnipeg, against Regina, against Saskatoon, all really high-quality teams. They won a playoff series (a four-game sweep over Lethbridge Hurricanes) and then they fell to Winnipeg (in six games) along the way in the second round, but he had to go against really difficult competition. He doubled his assist totals year-to-year."

Dubas said that more important than Yager's offensive production was his defensive play.

"The way that he drove possession out of his own zone," Dubas continued. "The way he played the whole rink, skated through the middle of the rink, was able to make plays, able to be the defensive conscience of his line while also producing offensively. The scouting staff was very excited about him."

Someone who is pretty familiar with Yager is Riley Heidt, another WHL prospect who had the potential to be a first-round pick on Wednesday but slipped to the second round. Heidt and Yager are great friends, and they grew up playing together in Saskatoon. These days Heidt is an opponent on the WHL's Prince George Cougars, but the two remain close. Heidt said at the combine that Yager has made him "better as a player and a person."

"He speaks for himself, just the way he plays," Heidt said. "He's a very talented player, thinks the game really well. He's in it in all areas, and that's why I love playing with him so much. He's so responsible and it's pretty easy to play with him."

Another WHL product -- Nate Danielson, a Brandon Wheat Kings forward who was selected ninth overall by Detroit on Wednesday -- was asked about the most purely talented player he knows in this draft class, and he didn't hesitate in his answer.

"I'd go with Brayden Yager," he said. "He's someone who plays really well defensively as well as offensively. He has great instincts, is creative, and has a really good shot."

Yager named another center with a great two-way game -- Sidney Crosby -- as someone he really watched growing up and tries to emulate. He called Crosby "one of the best complete players ever." He also named Nathan MacKinnon as inspiration in particular with his shot, with the quickness of MacKinnon's release and the way he jumps into the shot. At the combine, Yager also said that he likes to watch a lot of Patrice Bergeron and Jonathan Toews and learn from them -- first, for their faceoff abilities, but also their two-way play. 

"Their routes in the defensive zone, always supporting the puck," Yager said of what he likes about Bergeron and Toews at the combine. "Just that mentality of taking care of your own end first, and then letting your skill take over in the offensive zone. Your routes as a centerman are super important, always being an option for the defenseman breaking out. Their habits on the ice are cool to watch."

Yager said at the combine that two areas of his game that he wants to work on improving in order to have success at the pro level are his already-strong two-way game and his faceoff ability.

"Puck possession is so important in today's game," he said. "I think if you can win a faceoff, that'd be huge. I think it starts with the strength, playing against guys that are a lot older and bigger than you. I think if I can put on a little bit of weight, I'll be able to win faceoffs first. Then when you get stronger, you also get faster and all that stuff. Controlling the middle of the ice as a center is huge, and it starts with the faceoff."

One big area in which Yager does need to grow is ... literally growing. He's got OK height at 5 foot 11, but he's one of the slimmer players among the high picks at just 166 pounds. It's not super uncommon to draft an 18-year-old prospect who needs to put on some size, so it's no something that's really seen as much of a concern. Yager estimated that he's two or three years away from pushing for an NHL spot, and that's plenty of time to put in some hard hours in the weight room.

"The biggest thing is getting bigger and stronger," Yager said of his goals. "I'll probably get some advice from Pittsburgh, I'll try to get as much information as I can and learn as much as I can and go from there."

While Yager's strength isn't where it needs to be just yet, he still was one of the standouts in some of the fitness tests in the combine earlier this month. He had the 21st best squat jump height, exploding for a 15.72-inch vertical. He tied for 10th in the consecutive pull-up test, completing 12 pull-ups in a row. In the aerobic fitness test, which measures the capacity of the player's cardiovascular and respiratory systems to supply oxygen to the muscles and perform in high-intensity activities, Yager finished tied for 14th overall. In the anaerobic fitness test, which is conducted by pedaling an exercise bike at max capacity for 30 seconds, Yager had the sixth-best average power output and the 14th-best peak power output.

This draft class is regarded as the deepest and best draft class since 2003, a draft that was also held in Nashville. The Penguins had the first overall pick that year, taking a Canadian goalie out of the Cape Breton Screaming Eagles by the name of Marc-Andre Fleury. It's not exactly easy to compare Fleury and Yager when it comes to traits on the ice, but they do have one thing in common -- their near-identical smiles. Yager's didn't leave his face at all on Wednesday night after pulling that Penguins jersey on over his head, and he struggled to articulate just what that feeling was like for him.

"It still hasn't sunk in yet," Yager said. "I mean, it's such a great organization. You look at some of the players on their roster, guys that I can really learn from and guys that I've looked up to growing up. It's incredible."

One of those players, of course, is Crosby. It was a surreal feeling for Yager to now be in the same organization as one of his idols.

"It's pretty crazy to think that I'm wearing the same jersey he does," Yager said.

Crosby typically makes a phone call to the Penguins' first-round pick on draft night to congratulate them and welcome them to the organization. Yager hadn't yet received that phone call before meeting with reporters, and said that it was "going to be crazy" when the time finally came.

The Penguins shared a video on social media afterward of that phone call happening, and that gigantic smile was back on Yager's face as he listened to what Crosby had to say.

If Yager truly can push for an NHL spot in two to three years, there's a good chance that he can one day be teammates with the player he idolized growing up. If he can become a top-six center at the NHL level like he projects to be, he might just be the center to take over on one of the Penguins' top two lines when the current core is gone.