2023 NHL Draft Diary: Brayden Yager

Brayden Yager of Moose Jaw in the Western Hockey League will file a monthly draft diary for NHL.com this season leading up to the 2023 Upper Deck NHL Draft at Bridgestone Arena in Nashville on June 28-29. The 18-year-old right-shot center (5-foot-11, 166 pounds), No. 5 on NHL Central Scouting's midterm ranking of North American skaters eligible for the 2023 draft, has 50 points (18 goals, 32 assists) in 40 games this season. Yager was named Canadian Hockey League Rookie of the Year after he had 59 points (34 goals, 25 assists) in 63 games in 2021-22.

Happy New Year, hockey fans.
I have a lot to say in this month's diary, including my thoughts on Canada's victory at the World Junior Championship.
I'll start with our team in Moose Jaw. We've been doing a pretty good job, but I think there's always room for a little bit of improvement. When our group plays against teams at the bottom of the standings, we seem to maybe take a little bit for granted. I think that's a little bit of the preparation side of the game.
We need to come to the rink every game and prepare like we're playing the best team in the league because I think our team has been doing a pretty good job playing the teams that are higher than us in the standings. I think if we can prepare the same way for every game, we'll be a lot better.

I had my first four-assist game in the Western Hockey League in a win against Seattle on [Jan. 7]. I think I've had some games with quite a few points when I was in bantam, but that's my first four-assist game in the WHL. Entering the season, something I wanted to work on was my playmaking ability and finding different ways to produce offense and being a little bit more dynamic. I think I've been doing a good job of that, but I still want to keep shooting the puck and score some more goals.
There were several players on Seattle who won a gold medal with Canada at the World Juniors, including goalie Thomas Milic. Defensemen Nolan Allan and Kevin Korchinski, and forward Reid Schaefer also won a gold medal. Milic didn't start our game but ended up playing the second half. After a whistle, I just went up and gave him on tap on the pads and said 'Congrats.' During another break in the action, I also had a chance to congratulate the other players as well.
It was a pretty special tournament. Watching what Connor Bedard did out there was pretty incredible. Obviously, he made history and just watching the team win was pretty cool. I had some buddies on that team and they're super pumped, but with Bedard out there, that was something special.
There's no question you can't really give him much room because you give him an inch, and he can make you look a little bit silly. It was incredible to see what he did and I'm sure when you're that good, you're always playing against the other team's best players. But to still be able to do what he did was pretty incredible.
Besides Milic, I thought Joshua Roy (Montreal Canadiens) was unbelievable for Canada, too, and Logan Stankoven (Dallas Stars) was really good, as well.
I haven't really given much thought about New Year's resolutions, but I think I'll just continue to focus on putting the right things in my body and making sure I'm doing all the things that I need to do to stay healthy. I want to keep getting better as a player and also as a person.
Thanks for reading this month. I'll check back in February.
Photo: Nick Pettigrew, Moose Jaw (WHL)