Texas-born Penguins prospect Chase Yoder takes long road to NHL
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Like a lot of people his age (or younger) who hit the ice at UPMC Lemieux Sports Complex, Chase Yoder got into hockey thanks to Pittsburgh Penguins superstar Sidney Crosby.
He is part of the so-called “Crosby generation.”
The only difference for Yoder is he didn’t become infatuated by Crosby while growing up in Murrysville, Imperial, Baldwin or Fineview.
Yoder fell in love with hockey deep in the heart of Texas (or whatever part of the Lone Star State’s circulatory system the town of Fairview would constitute).
Living in the northern suburb of Dallas, Yoder, 21, was part of a generation of Texans who were introduced to the sport by the Dallas Stars, who won the Stanley Cup in 1999, roughly three years before he was born.
“My mom (Eileen) is from Minnesota, so I think that helped a lot, too,” said Yoder, who participated in the Penguins’ recent development camp in Cranberry. “That’s kind of how I got into it. My older brothers played, so I just kind of followed in their footsteps. Then I (played with) the Dallas youth teams (including the Dallas Stars Elite program) all the way up.”
What was it like being a hockey player in a state where high school football is king?
“I played in middle school (football),” Yoder said. “I was a running back and an outside linebacker, both ways. But growing up in high school, coaches would always come up to me and they were like, ‘You need to be on the football field.’ But I was just like, ‘Hey, I play hockey.’ The seasons kind of overlap.”
And even with the chasm of approximately 1,200 miles, Yoder had a clear choice of who to idolize.
“Obviously, Crosby was my favorite player growing up,” said Yoder, a left-handed center the Penguins selected in the sixth round (No. 170 overall) in the 2020 NHL Draft. “It just worked out that I got drafted by the (Penguins).
“After the (2009 Stanley) Cup run, I fell in love with the team and the ‘Big Three (Crosby, Evgeni Malkin and Kris Letang).’”
By 2018, Yoder and his parents, including father, Todd, moved north so he could participate in the USA Hockey National Team Development Program (NTDP), which is based in Plymouth, Mich. That’s the same program that has cultivated NHL superstars such as Auston Matthews and Patrick Kane and other NHL hopefuls such as West Mifflin native Logan Cooley.
“It was an unbelievable feeling getting selected by the (NTDP),” Yoder said. “It helped out a lot (that) my parents moved up there with me so I didn’t have to billet (live with a host family). That kind of allowed me to acclimate to the life up there and really allowed me to flourish. So I’m really thankful for that. You know what they say, it takes a village. And I definitely had a village growing up.”
Unlike his peers in the Northeast or Upper Midwest, Yoder didn’t have a “local” college to consider. That led him to Rhode Island and the Providence Friars.
There’s no school in my backyard,” Yoder said. “So I was kind of open to anything. I looked to teams in the Big Ten. I looked at Miami of Ohio. But I just felt at home at Providence. Great coaching staff with (head coach Nate) Lehman, (associate coach Ron) Rolston, (assistant coach Joel) Beale. I love the school. Everything outside of hockey is unbelievable. It’s a small school. Definitely feel comfortable there.”
Jim Rutherford’s final draft pick as Penguins general manager wound up being Yoder in 2020. Since then, he has spent three seasons at the NCAA level with Providence and is entering his senior season.
The Penguins have until Aug. 15, 2024, to sign him before losing his NHL rights. Management has a pretty clear idea of how he’ll prove worthy of a professional contract.
“He is a very reliable centerman,” Penguins director of player development Tom Kostopoulos said. “Defensively, you can put him out there in any situation. He’s so trustworthy. He’s always on the defensive side of the puck, penalty killing, faceoffs. The next step for him is adding more an offensive element. He’s a natural leader. Just challenging to bring him out of that a little bit more every day and do it with a louder voice. This year, going back to Providence, just stepping up the offensive side without cheating defensively, I think he can do it.”
Yoder (5-foot-10, 176 pounds) has shown steady improvement with his base offensive figures every season with Providence.
After posting six points (three goals, three assists) in 25 games as a freshman in 2020-21, he almost doubled that figure with 11 points (five goals, six assists) in 38 games as a sophomore.
Last season, he had 15 points (eight goals, seven assists) in 37 games.
“I just think I stuck to my game,” Yoder said of his steady progression. “Obviously, confidence is a huge thing. I was an older guy last year so I felt more confident in my role. My coaches really allowed me to flourish, too. Gave me more ice time and gave me bigger minutes and trusted me a lot more. That allowed me to really have confidence and who I was as a player.”
Yoder still has some ways to go to reach the NHL. But he has already taken a pretty long trek from Fairview to Plymouth to Providence.
He knows what he has to do to make the final leg of that journey to Pittsburgh.
“I take pride in the little things,” Yoder said. “I like to say I’m pretty good at faceoffs. Trustworthy in the (defensive) zone. I’m trying to work on my offensive game, obviously. That’s how I’ll be able to take the next step here.”