Saskatoon native Brayden Yager knows the Lethbridge Hurricanes match-up against Gavin McKenna and the Medicine Hat Tigers will be tough in the Western Hockey League's Eastern Conference Championship series.
"You look at the players they have, there are some pretty key names. You look at Gav, who is a really skilled player, he's been unreal. They've got a ton of skilled forwards that can really put the puck in the net," Yager said on the SportsCage.
"If we play our game, we're built to play defence first then transition to offence fast, we take care of our own end and limit those guys... they're going to get their chances, but if we limit those, then it should be a very good series."
Both teams made trades to strengthen their chance for a WHL playoff run.The Tigers added Misha Volotovskii from the Saskatoon Blades and Nashville Predators prospect Tanner Molendyk. The Hurricanes made a deal with the Moose Jaw Warriors to bring in their captain Brayden Yager and goalie Jackson Unger. The Hurricanes acquired Saskatoon native and defenceman Caden Price, who is a Seattle Kraken prospect, from the Kelowna Rockets.
During the regular season, Yager played 54 games in the WHL, scoring 25 goals and recording 57 assists for 82 total points. Last year, Yager and Unger helped the Warriors win the WHL’s Ed Chynoweth Cup.
In the second round, Lethbridge eliminated Calgary in seven games and Yager was not surprised the Hitmen were a hard team to beat.
"If you told us before the series started that it was going to go to seven, we probably would have accepted it," Yager explained.
"We knew it was going to be a battle going into the series. Calgary's a great team and they played hard. Throughout the whole season, we knew we matched up well against them and had some good games with them. We knew going into the series that it could end up being a long one."
In game seven against the Hitmen, Unger made 34 saves, helping his team to a 3-1 victory.
"We trust Unger a lot back there -- he's been great all playoffs," Yager said. "Another showcase of him being a gamer. He played unreal and without him I don't think we would have won the game."
Yager liked how his team stayed patient throughout the seven-game series with Calgary.
"I think our group did a great job of not getting too high or too low. We won the first two on the road and I think we did a good job of not getting too high," Yager said.
"Then we dropped the two at home right after that and like I said staying even-keeled throughout the series. I think over the long haul, we stuck with it, we had the belief in our group that we'd get that one done. That's going to be something we need to keep doing moving forward."
Yager is a Winnipeg Jets prospect after the Pittsburgh Penguins originally selected him in the first round, 14th overall during the 2023 NHL Draft.
