WINNIPEG – Whether it was leg day, upper-body day, or cardio day at the gym for 19-year-old Brayden Yager on Thursday, it will go down in history as the workout he won’t forget.
Near the end of the session, he checked his phone and saw he had a missed call from Pittsburgh Penguins president and general manager Kyle Dubas – the one who drafted Yager 14th overall in the 2023 NHL Draft.
“I called him back and he said I’d been involved in a trade and found out it was Winnipeg,” Yager said. “Obviously a lot of texts and calls and the whole whirlwind. It’s been pretty crazy, but I’m excited.”
In fact, one of the first things that popped into the Saskatoon, SK product’s mind was that he’d have the opportunity to play for a Canadian team. Not only that, but a team just one province to the east (or a little under 800 kilometres) from his home town.
Winnipeg Jets general manager, Kevin Cheveldayoff, said that pride came through in the initial conversation he and Yager had.
“A kid from the prairies to get to play for a prairie team, something he was pretty proud of,” said Cheveldayoff. “It will be different, I'm sure, for him changing organizations. Again, that's kind of why you have the development side of things and the team services side of things and whether it's trainers or whether it's travel people, the logistics of all that is going to start moving very, very quickly. I assume it's a whirlwind for him today. I talked to him, like I say he was pretty excited.”
Yager was part of a trade that saw Winnipeg’s 14th overall pick from the 2022 NHL Draft, Rutger McGroarty, head to Pittsburgh.
This marks the first time in Yager’s young career, which has spanned 211 Western Hockey League regular season games with the Moose Jaw Warriors, that he’s felt the emotions of being traded.
“The first reaction is a little bit of shock. You don’t obviously expect to get traded, but once you find out - you talk to your agents, you talk to Winnipeg’s staff - you start to get excited and you look into the future,” Yager said. “You get anxious to get started. Obviously camp is coming up pretty quick, so I’m really excited to get there and meet everybody and get on the ice.”
There is some familiarity with not only Winnipeg, but some players in the organization as well.
It was the Winnipeg ICE (now the Wenatchee Wild) that eliminated Yager and the Warriors from the WHL playoffs in 2022 and 2023. On top of that, he’s also spent time with Colby Barlow at numerous Hockey Canada camps (where he also met Thomas Milic briefly). Brad Lambert also played in Saskatoon briefly with Yager’s older brother, Connor.
Even if he only recognizes a few faces when he comes to camp, Yager will be coming off a 2023-24 season that will give him plenty of confidence.
Along with a career high 95 points (30 goals and 65 assists) in the regular season, Yager added another 27 points in 20 playoff games to help Moose Jaw to a WHL championship.
He then had six points in four games at the 2024 Memorial Cup, which earned him a spot on the tournament all-star team. Throw in the fact he represented Canada over the holidays at the 2024 World Junior Championship, and the young centre added a ton of experience to his resume.
“Individually, I’m trying to be a player that can rise to the occasion and play on big stages,” he said. “That’s something I got the chance to do this year was learn about the pressure games and learn how to still play my best in those situations.”
It won’t be long before Jets fans get to see Yager in Jets colours either.
“I look forward to seeing him in Penticton, our first chance to see him in a Jets uniform,” said Cheveldayoff. “He’s a very talented player in a very skilled position at centre where he can certainly make other players better around him.”
The countdown to training camp is always filled with excitement for players and organizations after the summer.
After Thursday’s trade, it’s even more exciting for Yager.
“Playing in the WHL the last three years, I got to go to Winnipeg and play against the Winnipeg ICE,” said Yager. “You see the fan base in Winnipeg, it’s pretty special and especially in the playoffs - the whiteout and everything - it’s crazy. So I’m super excited.”
