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 59 points (21 goals, 38 assists) in 52 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.

Hello hockey fans:
I'm glad I had an opportunity to participate in the 2023 Kubota CHL/NHL Top Prospects Game in Langley, British Columbia, last month. It was a crazy experience; obviously all the cameras were following the players around for the interviews. I don't know how many interviews I had, exactly, but I'd say more than 10 for sure on media day (Jan. 24), so it was a lot.
The most popular question I got was about Connor Bedard. I was asked about him in different ways, but I'd definitely say it was the most common one. There were no real strange questions but all the players were asked to draw their team logo so that was a little bit different, especially since I'm not the greatest artist. I wasn't very good with my sketch, but I think it was presentable. Actually, if my teammate, goalie Jackson Unger, didn't participate, maybe mine would have looked better. But he nailed it, so he made me look pretty bad.

At the start of the game, you don't really have a whole lot of chemistry playing with some of the guys. I think it's a little hectic, but as you go on, the game kind of settles down and you start to figure out your linemates. It was nice to see the game get a little physical, too.
It was cool getting to know Brandon forward Nate Danielson. I've played against him many times before in the WHL, but never had the chance to meet him, so it was nice to do that. He's one of those guys who I clicked well with. A funny thing was, we had to fly the Brandon players home and drive them from Regina to Moose Jaw because we played them the day after the top prospects game, so we spent a lot of time with those guys.
I thought I played well in the game. I mean, sometimes these games are a little hard to adjust to. Maybe I could have been a little bit better in the face-off circle, but I think it was a fun game. I thought I skated really well and made a lot of good plays, and it was fun to be a part of. I had a really good time.

Now that I'm back in Moose Jaw, we're 7-2-1 in our last 10 games and just looking to remain consistent in our push toward playoffs. It's always nice to play against the best players and our conference is really good. A lot of teams below us in the standings are teams that can beat anyone on any given day, so there's never an easy game.
We play Regina on Saturday, so obviously getting to play against Bedard] another time will be a good test for us and it's a big game for them, too.
I think we've really been focused on playing a more simple game. There have been times when we do get too fancy and want to carry the puck. We have tons of puck possession time in the zone, but it's also about getting pucks to the net and fighting to get inside and looking for space. Those are the kind of things that we've been trying to work on. When the checking gets tighter in the playoffs, it'll be important to kind of fight your way to the net, bang in loose pucks, so getting inside and doing the little things all over the ice are important. We have got to make sure our special teams are good in the playoffs because those are areas that can win you a series. We're kind of focused on those things as well.
To close out this month's diary, I'll leave you with my Super Bowl LVII prediction. I like the Kansas City Chiefs to defeat the Philadelphia Eagles, and I'll take Chiefs tight end Travis Kelce as my Super Bowl MVP.
Thanks for reading this month.
*Photos: Canadian Hockey League*
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