MOOSEJAWTODAY.COM -- It was quite possibly the least surprising announcement by the Moose Jaw Warriors in recent team history.
The Western Hockey League club revealed on Thursday afternoon that forward Brayden Yager has been named the 36th captain in team history, with the announcement coming days after the high-scoring forward returned from Winnipeg Jets training camp.
“It feels really good,” Yager told Marc Smith on the Warriors website. “It’s definitely an honour, there’s a lot of guys in this room that could wear the C, but I’m excited.”
Yager takes the reigns from Denton Mateychuk, who served as the Warriors’ captain for the past two seasons before graduating to the Columbus Blue Jackets.
“I have some pretty big boots to fill and learned a lot from him,” Yager said. “He was a guy that I looked up a lot to and went to him with questions, so going to try and be like that for my teammates.”
Warriors head coach Mark O’Leary said naming Yager the team’s captain was an easy decision.
“All the things that we talk about, what the Moose Jaw Warriors are all about, that’s Brayden Yager,” O’Leary said. “Doing the right thing, always, off the ice and it’s that ownership, doing things with purpose, the effort, the compete and when you think about that races-and-battles mindset, that’s Brayden Yager.”
Yager is heading into his fifth season with the Warriors and has a chance to make his mark in the team’s history books this season.
The Jets prospect currently sits eighth all-time in points with 250 and 18th all-time in goals with 104 in 211 games with the organization.
Originally selected with the third overall pick in the 2020 WHL Prospects Draft, Yager was an integral part of the Warriors’ 2024 WHL Championship team with 35 goals and 95 points in 57 games last season.
“The biggest thing is leading by example on the ice, it’s all about compete and some leaders don’t have to say much, you can show it on the ice through your work ethic and compete,” Yager said.
The Warriors also finalized the team’s leadership group for the 2024-25 season with Rilen Kovacevic, Kalem Parker and Brayden Schuurman named as assistant captains.
The Warriors’ leadership group will be on full display this weekend when the team travels to Alberta for games in Lethbridge on Friday and Medicine Hat on Saturday.
