What Brayden Yager represents for the Penguins took about seven seconds to detect Wednesday in the championship game of their development camp-closing four-on-four tournament.
Their first-round pick in 2023 corralled the puck at the blue line, ducked his left shoulder to gain position and found another gear, flipping a shot past Sergei Murashov for a highlight-reel goal at UPMC Lemieux Sports Complex.
It was one of several memorable moments from the annual five-day event, as well as something that will undoubtedly matter to the NHL club this season, whether it comes from Yager or anyone else.
The Penguins need more youngsters to shine.
One of them could be Yager, who will either make the big club this fall or return to his junior team, the Moose Jaw Warriors of the Western Hockey League. A gifted scorer (35 goals in 57 games) and facilitator, Yager certainly has traits that are enticing.
But he’s not alone. A couple guys here have a shot to make an impact.
“There’s a different mindset of changing up my goals compared to last year,” Yager said. “Being a year older, I want to give myself a chance to make the team come training camp.”
Give it hell, Brayden.
And bring some friends.
Owen Pickering, the Penguins’ first-round pick (21st overall) in 2022, is noticeably bigger and looks ready to make the jump to pro hockey.
After putting up seven goals and 46 points in 59 games with the Swift Current Broncos of the WHL, Pickering has polished his defensive game. Provided he handles the physicality of the American Hockey League, there’s an outside chance Pickering could make it to Pittsburgh.
Again, the more the merrier.
“From the day I was drafted, I wanted to make the Pittsburgh Penguins,” Pickering said. “From the time I was five years old, I wanted to play in the NHL.
“There’s an opportunity here. I want to work harder than I ever have and make the Pittsburgh Penguins as fast as possible.””
This event gave me a closer look at Ville Koivunen, who was part of the Jake Guentzel trade. I also enjoyed watching Russian goalie Sergei Murashov, who was a late addition and wound up turning plenty of heads.
There’s the possibility Murashov could come to North America, perhaps splitting time with Joel Blomqvist on the Baby Penguins.
Pittsburgh’s top two 2024 draft picks, Harrison Brunicke (a sizable and skilled defenseman) and Tanner Howe (a nuisance of a forward), were also fun to watch and clearly have potential.
But what was also interesting is how director of player development Tom Kostopoulos answered my question about some changes the Penguins have seen under president of hockey operations Kyle Dubas.
“Kyle and Jason Spezza and [the] Fenway [Sports Group] have invested hugely in the development department in terms of time, money and staff,” Kostopoulos said. “It’s been massive.
“We have different skills coaches, skating coaches, strength coaches and video analysts, which benefits the players. They love that. The feedback has been fantastic.
“We have to be near the top of the league in what our organization has to offer [with development].”
What Kostopoulos said there isn’t subtle. FSG clearly values this stuff.
As much as the Penguins might be headlined by Sidney Crosby, Evgeni Malkin, Kris Letang and Erik Karlsson, we all know it won’t last forever. The Penguins must continue building a better development model, not only stocking the farm system but also getting those players to contribute to the NHL club.
After hearing Kostopoulos, I couldn’t help but think back to something Sullivan said last weekend when he talked to me about the circumstances under which he took over in 2015.
“When I first became the coach of the Pittsburgh Penguins, we had a number of guys who came up from Wilkes-Barre,” Sullivan said. “They were a big part of those Stanley Cup teams.
“But the reality was, they were ready to take the next step and make the jump and make an impact.”
Drew O’Connor did a fine job alongside Crosby late last season. I liked what I saw from Jack St. Ivany down the stretch, too, provided the Penguins can deploy him in a third-pairing role.
But on balance, the organization’s developmental results haven’t been on par with what we saw at the start of Sullivan’s tenure.
Can Vasily Ponomarev, Sam Poulin, Tristan Broz, Cruz Lucius, Yager or several others change that? I don’t know. We need real hockey to learn more.
It will be fascinating to watch it all play out in a couple months.
“It’s always been one of my favorite or most rewarding parts of coaching — your ability to help players grow,” Sullivan said. “One of the things I think Kyle and I share a similar passion on is the whole concept of development and gaining a competitive advantage if we do it better than other organizations.”
