In the past two days, the Pittsburgh Penguins as usual, didn’t have a ton of picks, but made good in the first round when picking Brayden Yager with the 14th overall selection and then managed to grab defenseman Emil Pieniniemi of Karpat U20 in the Finnish Jr. league in the third round.
On Wednesday evening, during the first round of the postseason, Yager made his way to the stage to put on the Penguins’ jersey and once he met with reporters, he could hold his excitement about joining Pittsburgh.
“It still hasn’t sank in yet. It’s such a great organization,” Yager said with a wide grin. “They have some good players on their roster, some guys I can really learn from, guys that I’ve looked up to growing up. So it’s incredible.”
Yager has mentioned that captain Sidney Crosby is is one of the players he’s tried to pattern his game after and as he was celebrating his selection with the team and his family, he got a call from his idol himself.
What a classy move by the Penguins’ captain, welcoming the young forward into the organization.
The 2023 NHL Draft may be over, but I bet Yager is still pinching himself.
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