2023-24 Senators Prospect Watch

[Sens of Anarchy]

Could be.

All the talk in the lead-up to the draft was that he tested really poorly at the combine, particularly in the lower body drills. Apparently a lot of teams came away with some pretty substantial concerns about his natural athleticism.

His skating (more his pivots), athleticism, defensive game and decision making were all concerns expressed by various scouts leading into the draft.

He can obviously skate with the puck , he can really handle the puck, he can shoot, he can play mean , he has really good size.

What Calgary hitmen GM said pre draft; He knows him as well as anyone and portrays him as an offensive defenseman

“He’s got some outstanding offensive abilities,” Davidson said. “His puck handling and his shooting and that half of his game is at a very, very high level. And he’s one of those guys that loves to play offense. It’s kind of like how sometimes you talk about a player as a pass-first mentality or a shoot-first mentality. Carter’s all about offence first, and there’s many nights where he wows people with what he does out there offensively.”

We have to see how he develops .. He isn't special offensively and he needs a lot of work defensively still.

 

[aragorn]

An offensive skillset is much harder to come by, while playing better defensively can be learned.

 

[Gil Gunderson]

He kind of reminds me of d-man Logan Brown in a lot of ways lol

 

[Sens of Anarchy]

With the assessments of Yakemchuk's play graciously provided here and the popular demand for information on the top D-men in last year's draft class I thought this would satisfy at least some of the hunger.



Nice month for Dickinson one of the top CHL D-men; Still 18 years old .
91 points for the 24/25 regular season ; behind only Zayne Parekh (incidentally another 2024 Draft classmate) at 107 for Defensemen scoring the OHL.

 

[Senator Stanley]

His skating (more his pivots), athleticism, defensive game and decision making were all concerns expressed by various scouts leading into the draft.

He can obviously skate with the puck , he can really handle the puck, he can shoot, he can play mean , he has really good size.

What Calgary hitmen GM said pre draft; He knows him as well as anyone and portrays him as an offensive defenseman

We have to see how he develops .. He isn't special offensively and he needs a lot of work defensively still.

This is basically the case against Yakemchuk in a nutshell.

 

[Hun]

With the assessments of Yakemchuk's play graciously provided here and the popular demand for information on the top D-men in last year's draft class I thought this would satisfy at least some of the hunger.



Nice month for Dickinson one of the top CHL D-men; Still 18 years old .
91 points for the 24/25 regular season ; behind only Zayne Parekh (incidentally another 2024 Draft classmate) at 107 for Defensemen scoring the OHL.

They both suck defensively. Good thing we didn't pick them.

 

[Burrowsaurus]

They both suck defensively. Good thing we didn't pick them.

All 3 suck defensively. We picked the worst offensive one of the bunch and the slowest

 

[Wallet Inspector]

An offensive skillset is much harder to come by, while playing better defensively can be learned.

Correct, which is why Parekh was the better choice.

 

[Hun]

All 3 suck defensively. We picked the worst offensive one of the bunch and the slowest

Yak is better at defense and good at offense

 

[Sens of Anarchy]

All 3 suck defensively. We picked the worst offensive one of the bunch and the slowest

Degrees of suck
also one guy in his D+1 is in 19 y/o season while the other two were entering are in their 18 y/o season.

in Parekh 's case he was +42 on a team that was +50 where Yakemchuk was +6 on a team that was + 83

London is a wagon but Dickinson led the wagon in points with 91 and in +/- with 64

I'd venture to say they suck less

 

[Sens of Anarchy]

Yak is better at defense and good at offense

based on what? He is clearly worse at defense and worse at offense.

 

[Hun]

based on what? He is clearly worse at defense and worse at offense.

Yak is more physical and is good at moving the puck under pressure.

 

[Sens of Anarchy]

Yak is more physical and is good at moving the puck under pressure.

True on the physical but that doesn't mean better defensively. He is a more physical player but again decision making plays a part in when and how you approach that.
His decision making is questioned , particularly under pressure .. so from the defensive end I won't give you that one.

Regardless we have the player and he will need to continue to develop to be his best ... which would be true for all of them in the 24 class

The other two players do not suck.

 

[Hun]

True on the physical but that doesn't mean better defensively. He is a more physical player but again decision making plays a part in when and how you approach that.
His decision making is questioned , particularly under pressure .. so from the defensive end I won't give you that one.

Regardless we have the player and he will need to continue to develop to be his best ... which would be true for all of them in the 24 class

The other two players do not suck.

His decision making is typical of a young player. It usually improves with time. That said, it's impossible to find players who are infallible, even in the NHL. And physical play is harder to improve. You either have it or you don't.

 

[Senator Stanley]

True on the physical but that doesn't mean better defensively. He is a more physical player but again decision making plays a part in when and how you approach that.
His decision making is questioned , particularly under pressure .. so from the defensive end I won't give you that one.

I don't personally see decision making under pressure as a major concern with him. I'm sure there are blunders on his tape - even Jake Sanderson has some - but from what I've seen he has good instincts moving the puck in the defensive zone. And when he has time, he can make a great outlet pass. That's something that really stands out seeing him live.

Where I've seen him get into trouble is with pucks in tight areas (pucks in his feet, pucks between him and his stick), but I think that stems more from his coordination and agility issues. He's a tall guy, plays with a long stick, and doesn't move his feet particularly well. It's a recipe for awkwardness, and that awkwardness can get exposed with pressure (i.e. it's a physical limitation, not a mental one). You just have to hope that's something he can iron out as he grows into his body and develops.

 

[BoardsofCanada]

Undersized dmen at the NHL level, who are wizards with the puck like Lane Hutson, are amazing complimentary pieces. But what happens a year from now when Hutson's ELC is up and he wants 8 x 8 (maybe more) on his next deal? This will make him Montreal's number one. Again, sensational on the PP, but do you want a 5'9 160 pound D protecting a one goal lead late in the game? Quinn Hughes is an exception. But for the most part, it's rare for an undersized D to thrive at the NHL level.

 

[Hale The Villain]

based on what? He is clearly worse at defense and worse at offense.

Bigness and toughness.

AKA the reasons our dinosaur scouting staff drafted him over Buium, Parekh and Dickinson.

Still blows my mind our head scout is Don Boyd - the guy who almost destroyed the Blue Jackets franchise with his awful drafting from 2000-2005.

And it's not like he's learned any new tricks at age 72. You can see the same kind of overwhelming obsession with size, toughness, physicality and (of course) PIMs that helped condem the Jackets to the basement for a decade in our recent draft choices.

 

[Wallet Inspector]

Undersized dmen at the NHL level, who are wizards with the puck like Lane Hutson, are amazing complimentary pieces. But what happens a year from now when Hutson's ELC is up and he wants 8 x 8 (maybe more) on his next deal? This will make him Montreal's number one. Again, sensational on the PP, but do you want a 5'9 160 pound D protecting a one goal lead late in the game? Quinn Hughes is an exception. But for the most part, it's rare for an undersized D to thrive at the NHL level.

The NHL has never been better for undersized but skilled, smart players. Even if he won't be a true #1, Hutson can and probably will be a great top-pair D. Aside from their top line, he's the main reason the Habs are even in a playoff spot.

And Buium and Parekh aren't even short, they're both 6 feet.

 

[Bjornar Moxnes]

Undersized dmen at the NHL level, who are wizards with the puck like Lane Hutson, are amazing complimentary pieces. But what happens a year from now when Hutson's ELC is up and he wants 8 x 8 (maybe more) on his next deal? This will make him Montreal's number one. Again, sensational on the PP, but do you want a 5'9 160 pound D protecting a one goal lead late in the game? Quinn Hughes is an exception. But for the most part, it's rare for an undersized D to thrive at the NHL level.

Hughes funny enough isn't relied on protecting leads in the last minute.

 

[Bjornar Moxnes]

I still don't get why Staios hasn't booted our scouts.

 

[Burrowsaurus]

Yak is better at defense and good at offense

lol his defense is a monstrous question mark. And after this season so is his offense

 

[Burrowsaurus]

Degrees of suck
also one guy in his D+1 is in 19 y/o season while the other two were entering are in their 18 y/o season.

in Parekh 's case he was +42 on a team that was +50 where Yakemchuk was +6 on a team that was + 83

London is a wagon but Dickinson led the wagon in points with 91 and in +/- with 64

I'd venture to say they suck less

I’m of the mind that all defensive prospects suck defensively. Except like Jake Sanderson and Rasmus Dahlin.

But yeah Yakemchuk seems to be very clearly the worst at everything of the theee except maybe at maybe like fighting ?

 

[Burrowsaurus]

Undersized dmen at the NHL level, who are wizards with the puck like Lane Hutson, are amazing complimentary pieces. But what happens a year from now when Hutson's ELC is up and he wants 8 x 8 (maybe more) on his next deal? This will make him Montreal's number one. Again, sensational on the PP, but do you want a 5'9 160 pound D protecting a one goal lead late in the game? Quinn Hughes is an exception. But for the most part, it's rare for an undersized D to thrive at the NHL level.

If he’s gonna put up 70-80 points then yeah he’s worth the 8 million. Hes driving his team to the playoffs lol. In his first season.

When did our 8 million big powerful playoff style captain lead us to the playoffs. This might be his very first year.

 

[Gil Gunderson]

Undersized dmen at the NHL level, who are wizards with the puck like Lane Hutson, are amazing complimentary pieces. But what happens a year from now when Hutson's ELC is up and he wants 8 x 8 (maybe more) on his next deal? This will make him Montreal's number one. Again, sensational on the PP, but do you want a 5'9 160 pound D protecting a one goal lead late in the game? Quinn Hughes is an exception. But for the most part, it's rare for an undersized D to thrive at the NHL level.

Dickenson and Parekh aren’t undersized lol

 

[BondraTime]

Yak is more physical and is good at moving the puck under pressure.

He’s more physical and has better hands, that’s about it

Shoots right, big, and physical. That’s the Sens scouts music.