'I'm just excited for that type of style': Maple Leafs Prospect Braeden Kressler Ready For First Pro Season
The 20-year-old is set to begin his professional career with the Toronto Marlies next season.
Braeden Kressler is ready for the next step in his hockey career, and everything that comes with it.
Signing a three-year entry-level contract in 2021 following a spectacular development camp and prospect tournament, Kressler is about to make the jump to pro.
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A very unique story after going undrafted just two years ago.
"The best part of hockey is just getting better every day," Kressler said at Maple Leafs development camp.
"You've got the best staff in the league that are supporting you and telling you all the right things, so if you just take all that away from each day at these camps and bring them into the rest of the summer, and then into training camp, I think it's awesome."
A few months from now, Kressler will be participating in his first-ever Maple Leafs training camp.
It'll be there where the 20-year-old learns more about what it takes to get to that level. But at the same time, Kressler hopes to impress everyone too.
"I want to do really good there," he said with a grin. "It can be an easy game when you've got those players like (John) Tavares, (Mitch) Marner, (Auston) Matthews all around you and you can really excel your game.
"I'm just excited for that type of style."
After Kressler's final season with the OHL's Flint Firebirds, where he put up 52 points in 47 games as an assistant captain, he joined the Toronto Marlies as added depth for their playoff run.
Being a part of the leadership group with the Firebirds, the 20-year-old clearly knows what's needed of him. However, when he moved up to the AHL, Kressler saw first-hand what it means to be a leader at the pro level.
"They have the best captain I've ever played with. I've had tons of great captains, but (Logan) Shaw there, he just accepted me real quick," Kressler said.
"He didn't even know, I was just kind of there and around and practicing. He saw that I was working hard and he made me feel comfortable. I think that was the rest of the team, everybody's there to have fun and work together and create a brotherhood. It was just fun.
"It is exciting to be at that level and see what the pros are doing, and hopefully, I can bring that next year."
The prospects this year at Maple Leafs development camp did a lot of off-ice activities in Toronto. They had a cooking class, went go-carting, and even got to have lunch at the top of the CN Tower.
Those adventures, Kressler says, can really help a group come together. It also makes coming to the rink more enjoyable.
"Hockey is definitely mental a lot of the time and when you can come together like that and have a fun time, it takes away the seriousness a little bit out of hockey so you can just enjoy the rest of the day, enjoy the rest of the week," Kressler said.
"And when you can do that, when you come to the rink, you know that it's time to turn it on. It creates a positive mindset. I think that's really important when it comes to hockey and especially an eight-day camp.
"It can be exhausting mentally but if you're having fun, it's really enjoyable."
Participating in his third development camp, Kressler understands what's needed of him. Though the 20-year-old also knows that this past week could also catapult him to becoming a better player in the long run.
"The staff members here are just creating such a positive environment with all the skills they're teaching us and I think I just want to, everything they teach me, I want that to be incorporated into my game," he said.
"If they see that, they see the excel I've created in my game, I think it's a good opportunity to create a skill level that I've never had at the next level."
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