Pittsburgh Penguins captain Sidney Crosby reacts to a history making night for longtime teammates Kris Letang and Evgeni Malkin. It’s not often the Pittsburgh Penguins have one of their top prospects representing their country at the annual World Junior Championship tournament, but this year is special. The Penguins don’t have just one, but three top prospects participating in this year’s tournament. Forward Brayden Yager is suiting up for Team Canada while defensemen Emil Pieniniemi and Kalle Kangas are both playing for Team Finland. All three players are selections from the Penguins 2023 draft class and are already making great names for themselves in the system. Yager put together a good rookie camp and preseason with the Penguins and has followed that up with a role on Team Canada. Playing as a bottom six winger, Yager has already scored a goal plus an assist and is a plus-four rating in Canada’s opening two games of the tournament. Pieniniemi and Kangas aren’t quite known for their offensive prowess from the blue line but have begun to prove their worth as quality defenders for the Penguins organization. Penguins’ head coach Mike Sullivan called the World Juniors one of the greatest international tournaments in all of hockey and watches it regularly but has an elevated interest this time around. “I always pay attention to it, regardless of who’s in the tournament,” Sullivan said. “The fact that we have multiple players in it, it just adds that much more interest.” Sullivan said that every one of the players involved in the tournament are emerging NHL talents and that goes for the Penguins prospects, too. “We’re all watching it,” Sullivan said. “I know our whole hockey operations is watching it.” Penguins president and general manager Kyle Dubas spoke on Yager joining Team Canada during the latest GM Show with Josh Getzoff [https://soundcloud.com/user-898619589/gm-show-122023-pittsburgh-penguins?si=633ca30ef3224d7f927cdc997e65b896&utm_source=clipboard&utm_medium=text&utm_campaign=social_sharing] and spoke highly of what this kind of bump means to his progress. “To make the under 20 national team as an 18-year-old is a great accolade,” Dubas said. “Now, can he carve out a role on the team?” Yager has since found a role and has started to produce in that spot. Dubas and the Penguins are hopeful Yager can learn a lot and help Team Canada play for a gold medal and then translate that success over to his development. The Penguins are still behind many teams when it comes to pipeline rankings, but with three key prospects on the biggest stage for amateur hockey, there’s a chance they can start to make names for themselves. Make sure you bookmark Inside the Penguins [http://insidethepenguins.com/]for the latest news, exclusive interviews, breakdowns and so much more. Penguins Get Metropolitan Monkey off Their Backs [https://thehockeynews.com/nhl/pittsburgh-penguins/players/pittsburgh-penguins-metropolitan-division-money-off-back] Historic Night Highlights Stellar Season for Penguins Defenseman [https://thehockeynews.com/nhl/pittsburgh-penguins/podcasts/historic-night-highlights-stellar-season-pittsburgh-penguins-defenseman] Multiple Penguins Deserve Spotlight in Win Over Islanders [https://thehockeynews.com/nhl/pittsburgh-penguins/players/pittsburgh-penguins-spotlight-win-new-york-islanders] Evgeni Malkin Makes Moves in All Time Goal Rankings [https://thehockeynews.com/nhl/pittsburgh-penguins/players/pittsburgh-penguins-evgeni-malkin-all-time-goals-rankings] Kris Letang Boosts Penguins With Record Setting Game [https://thehockeynews.com/nhl/pittsburgh-penguins/latest-news/kris-letang-pittsburgh-penguins-record-setting-game] * undefined * undefined
