Penguins 2023 1st round pick Brayden Yager; Wants to take a roster spot

Penguins 2023 1st round pick Brayden Yager; Wants to take a roster spot

you’re not comfortable talking we’re starting so how do you feel being at this year’s Camp just compared to last year when you just got draft and you came in here and obviously everything you been through the last year with though yeah I think obviously a little bit more comfortable um you know last year kind of just coming and kind of follow guys around um obviously picks did a good job kind of falling carrying me around last year and um you know I feel a little bit more comfortable just can go on my own if I want and obviously know you know familiar with everyone now all the staff and everybody so um yeah it’s been great so are you doing that for Tanner now are you mentoring him here at Camp yeah kind of I mean uh I think probably some of you guys know we’re pretty good buddies so um yeah kind of just hanging out and kind of trying to show them a little bit around the place and um yeah he’s been great what like seeing him get drafted especially you know with your history together yeah it was cool I mean I was just at the lake fishing on the boat and um you know I heard his name and kind of just jumped up and uh our whole family was excited uh I think my dad you know texted his dad and all that stuff so um no I texted him and you know he was so excited so it’s good I heard their dad like your dads were coaches back in the day how did that go what were their what’s their coaching Styles yeah I mean I think his dad’s kind of hard on him and my dad was hard on me and kind of just a little easier on the other kids you know how a dad coaches kind of just hard on their own kid but they were great I mean um obviously our two dads are the coaches and um we were always you know pretty good uh players growing up and um obviously really close so um you know it’s kind of cool to kind of come full circle and um you know get drafted the same team what do you think you’ve made the biggest strides as a player over the last year yeah I think um especially starting the defensive Zone uh I wanted to work on my Pace offs a lot um I think just getting bigger and stronger I think is kind of the biggest thing um you I said it a lot you know last year you know at camps and stuff and you know I think that’s just the biggest thing is you getting ready to play against you know men and um you know bigger guys and um I think that’s you know one area where I tried to improve most obviously U it was nice Pittsburgh sent some you know training coaches down to you know MRA and got to spend some time with them and um learn as much as I can on how to you know maintain my body weight and you know still get stronger you know throughout the year so um was really good Bren I think you’ve had close to a 20 point takeoff each of the last three seasons is just kind of filling out you know growing getting bigger stronger is that is that kind of part of that or is it just a uh yeah I mean I think you know you get better every year you try to improve as much as you can and you know obviously playing with some pretty good players and um you know they’re improving as well um but yeah I think just getting bigger and stronger you know feeling more comfortable you know being a year older um all that kind of stuff kind of plays into you know getting better every year and you know I try to you take a lot of Pride and um you know really taking you doing whatever I can to get better as a player and um I thought so far pretty good job that BR question back to your draft SI call what was that like oh that was crazy I mean I don’t even remember a whole lot of what he said or I I don’t even know what I said but um it was just so cool you know he’s my childhood hero um you know just watching him growing up and trying to just be like be like him and you know he’s you know one of the best players ever play so um get a phone call from guy like that it’s crazy what was the scenario what were you doing you remember the get the middle of anything uh I was in the like the penguin sweet Nashville during there uh kind of just talking with the family and my billets and obviously meeting all the staff and um I remember you know Jason siling kind of came up to me and said you there’s somebody on the phone for you and um kind of just picked up the fallone and it’s like hey it’s s it was uh it was just a crazy feeling what do you take away from the experience um winning the Western League going to the Memorial Cup now that you’ve kind of had a chance to process everything like what was it like and did you learn anything think about yourself and those those moments yeah I mean I you know I think it’s it’s hard to win and um you know definitely figure that out um you know it’s a grind and um you know I thought takes a you know it’s a long season and um you know I thought our team was um really Val especially you know in the in the playoffs um you I think that we did a really good job of you know sticking together and you know there was times where um we were down and uh you look at the the sason series is you know kind of a lot of adversity there and learning from that I think it definitely helped us you know win the league but yeah I think as a player I think try to be a player that rises to the occasion um you want to be a leader on your team and play on so obviously it’s hard but um a lot of fun and be proud of our what are your personals yeah I me first I want makeb [Music] you know have to be ready to play um I want to come to come to main camp with the mentality um you know that I’m going to make the team you know be comfortable with working my hardest and the best players the team yeah kind of coming the mindset what like to play probably not no I mean I was just going to say he’s uh he’s hard to play he’s not the biggest guy but uh he’s a big heart he plays with so much passion like you said he’s super hard you know got to play against Corners little uh you know little cheap shots sometimes like you know he gets in under your skin and uh you know he’s a phenomenal player you mention wanted to make the