Moose Jaw Warriors forward Brayden Yager was touring the Pittsburgh Penguins workout facilities shortly after being selected by the team in the 2023 NHL Entry Draft when he came across a gym with a single occupant and a trainer.
The 18-year-old first-round pick didn’t think much of it at first and went about the tour. But a second look, and his jaw dropped.
Because the other person in the gym was none other than multiple-time Stanley Cup champion, Olympic gold medalist and NHL superstar Sidney Crosby.
Crosby’s trainer happened to recognize Yager, who had been picked 14th overall by the Penguins a few days earlier, and with that, the Prince Albert native had a chance to meet one of his childhood heroes.
“It was crazy,” Yager said with a look of amazement prior to teeing off at the Warriors Alumni Golf Tournament earlier this summer. “I kind of just walked into the gym and saw the trainer working with somebody, and I looked again and it was Sid. Then the trainer called me over to say hi and introduce me and it was amazing. He’s such a nice person and such a generous guy and definitely a guy I’ve modelled my game after and looked up to all my life… it was super crazy to see someone like him in person.”
A Welcome to the NHL moment, indeed.
“It’s been a whirlwind for sure,” Yager said. “There were lots of nerves going into the Draft and development camp as well, but I couldn’t be happier going to Pittsburgh. Now that I’ve had a chance to go there and meet everybody, they’re a super welcoming organization and it’s where I feel I belong.
“It was a ton of fun there and they’re going to be a great team to be a part of.”
Yager didn’t have a lot of time to gather his thoughts after the NHL Draft. The Penguins development camp was the following weekend, and he was on the plane to Pittsburgh from Nashville immediately after.
And it wasn’t that long after landing that it all became extremely real.
“It was super weird getting there and all of a sudden I’m on the ice in a Pittsburgh Penguins jersey,” Yager said. “It definitely took a couple of days for it to feel like it was kind of real, but the staff was so welcoming and I met a ton of new people, they made me feel super comfortable so that was awesome.”
Yager ended up rooming with Owen Pickering of the Swift Current Broncos -- Pittsburgh’s first round pick in 2022 -- and as a veteran of the proceedings, Pickering was able to show Yager a bit about how things work.
Yager also had someone he knew very well to hang around with, none other than teammate and Moose Jaw Minor Hockey product Atley Calvert, who as an overage forward had received a free-agent invite to Penguins development camp.
“As soon as I got drafted, he texted me and said he got an invite to camp there,” Yager said. “I was super happy for him and it was awesome to have a teammate to go through that experience with. It was pretty cool.
“We played against him, and I saw him score a goal during the three-on-three tournament, but other than that we just hung out a bit during the tour of the room and things like that. It was definitely nice having someone around I knew and had played a couple of years with.”
From there, it was a matter of getting on the ice and taking those first strides in the NHL. While it’s all new and exciting at the moment, Yager is plenty aware that will have to change in the near future as he embarks on his professional career.
“At some point you have to get over that and believe that you’re a part of that group and want to make the team,” he said. “I’ll get comfortable eventually and hopefully be (Crosby’s) teammate someday. It’s a cliche, but the work starts now and I have to gain some strength and do what I can to become an NHL player.”
That work has continued throughout the summer, and Yager will be one of 70 players taking the ice when Warriors training camp opens on Thursday, Aug. 31 at the Moose Jaw Events Centre.
“Obviously I enjoyed the whole process and it was a ton of fun, and I can’t thank enough people who helped me get to where I am today,” he said. “Family and friends and coaches and teachers and obviously teammates, too. I’m so excited to be a Pittsburgh Penguin, and from what I’ve experienced they’re a great organization and I couldn’t be happier.”
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