Brayden Yager was one of nine Western Hockey League players to be named to Team Canada for the 2024 World Juniors. (Mark Peterson/Prince Albert Raiders)

By Logan Lehmann

Team Canada

Former P.A. minor hockey player receives invite to Canada’s World Junior selection camp

Dec 7, 2023 | 11:00 AM

A hockey player who learned how to skate in Prince Albert has a chance to take his talents to the pinnacle of junior hockey.

Brayden Yager will attend Team Canada’s selection camp in Oakville for the 2024 World Junior Hockey Championships with the hopes of donning the maple leaf for the second time in his career. The first was in 2022 when he helped Canada win gold at the Hlinka Gretzky Cup in Red Deer.

A member of the Moose Jaw Warriors, Yager started playing hockey in Prince Albert when he was four and played in Hockeytown North until his parents moved to Saskatoon when he was 11.

His family were Prince Albert Raiders season ticket holders and Yager has fond memories of watching Leon Draisaitl and Josh Morrissey play and practice at the Art Hauser Centre. Since then, he’s been back to P.A. many times over the years as a member of the Warriors, Martensville Marauders, and Saskatoon Contacts.

Since being drafted by Moose Jaw in 2020, the centre man has collected 194 career points (86g, 108a) in 179 games at the time of this article’s publication. The contributions caught the attention of NHL scouts, where he heard his name get called during the 2023 NHL Draft in Nashville, going 14th overall to the Pittsburgh Penguins.

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So far this season in the WHL, Yager has potted 17 goals and 22 assists in 26 games.

The Warriors’ alternate captain wasn’t the only one from the team invited either, as teammates Jagger Firkus and Denton Mateychuk will be joining him at the camp.

The World Juniors will be played in Gothenburg, Sweden and Canada will play their first game at the tournament on Dec. 26 against Finland. Puck drop is scheduled for 2:30 p.m. local time, or 7:30 a.m. Sask. time.

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loganc.lehmann@pattisonmedia.com