2023-24 Senators Prospect Watch

[Burrowsaurus]

This board continues to prioritize pts by individual players & less emphasis on complete players which to me is what Yakemchuk is becoming at both ends of the ice as well as team needs. These players are what teams covet, players who can play in all situations rather than specialty players who are all offence & no defence. Dickenson could also become a complete player, but he is a left shot & Ott needs a right shot to replace a 35 yr old Jensen when he retires. We have seen how playing defencemen on their right side hasn't worked for Ott. Zub RD will be 30 to start next season & it's the wrong side that needs to be replaced & upgraded first & Yakemchuk will fill in nicely there.

Teams also covet players like Buium and Parekh. And karlsson. And maker and Hughes. That’s why they’re selected high in the NHL draft

I have no clue where this idea that Yakemchuk is more of a two way player than some of the other d taken right around him came from. But it’s not rooted in any sort of reality.

His defence was a MUCH larger question mark than with guys like Dickinson and Buium. And I mean just about equal with Parekh.

 

[aragorn]

Teams also covet players like Buium and Parekh. And karlsson. And maker and Hughes. That’s why they’re selected high in the NHL draft

I have no clue where this idea that Yakemchuk is more of a two way player than some of the other d taken right around him came from. But it’s not rooted in any sort of reality.

It's Ott right side that needs to be replaced, Buium, Parekh & Dickenson are all left shots. Jensen needs to be replaced first & then Zub both right shot D & we have seen that switching players to their wrong side doesn't work very well. Who will those left shot D replace Sanderson or more likely Chabot & we would still have the right side to replace & lose a good left shot D.

 

[Burrowsaurus]

It's Ott right side that needs to be replaced, Buium, Parekh & Dickenson are all left shots. Jensen needs to be replaced first & then Zub both right shot D & we have seen that switching players to their wrong side doesn't work very well. Who will those left shot D replace Sanderson or more likely Chabot & we would still have the right side to replace & lose a good left shot D.

Or trade.

By the time Yakemchuk is good enough to play great top 4 hockey chabot is likely gone? Thats why you don’t select based on niche bs lol.

Take the guy who’s gonna be the super star. That’s it

 

[aragorn]

Or trade.

By the time Yakemchuk is good enough to play great top 4 hockey chabot is likely gone? Thats why you don’t select based on niche bs lol.

Take the guy who’s gonna be the super star. That’s it

Okay, but that's not easy & will be expensive to get a top 4 guy when Yakemchuk fits the top 4 & exactly what they need there, a player who can play in all situations & replace a vet who is aging out & cheap on an ELC. We don't know who will be the superstar & I would much rather have a guy who helps to make the whole team better than a super star. Toronto & Edmonton has two of them each & they are still waiting to win a cup. You need good players in all positions to win a cup.

 

[Hale The Villain]

I can't speak about Buium, because I haven't watched him play much this season, although I thought Cole Huston was way more dynamic in the WJC.

What do you think is a fair projection for Dickinson is? a 70 to 80 point player? Sanderson was not producing so hot in his D+1 and D+2. But I don't care what the numbers say, Sanderson was a much better prospect than Dickinson is today. He was way smarter and way better defensively and , less error prone. Dickinson is the player we saw at the WJC. He almost singlehandedly caused Canada to lose with a terrible first period in the elimination game. He was outplayed every d-man not named Bonk.

If you believe Dickison is tracking to be a better player than Sanderson, I will take that bet.

Dickinson puts up over 101 points in 60 games for London this year, but we're supposed to believe a 5 game sample size on the worst performing Canadian WJC team ever is a true reflection of his play?

And I'm sure in your mind Yakemchuk's impressive handful of pre-season games outweighs his dissapointing play over 60 games for Calgary this year too.

Small sample sizes can be incredibly misleading. Their play over the full season should matter a lot more when it comes to projecting their play at future levels.

 

[Sens of Anarchy]

Dickinson puts up over 101 points in 60 games for London this year, but we're supposed to believe a 5 game sample size on the worst performing Canadian WJC team ever is a true reflection of his play?

And I'm sure in your mind Yakemchuk's impressive handful of pre-season games outweighs his dissapointing play over 60 games for Calgary this year too.

Small sample sizes can be incredibly misleading. Their play over the full season should matter a lot more when it comes to projecting their play at future levels.

so much spin in yakemchuk's favor takes away from credibility. No need to try to sell us.

 

[PlayOn]

Or trade.

By the time Yakemchuk is good enough to play great top 4 hockey chabot is likely gone? Thats why you don’t select based on niche bs lol.

Take the guy who’s gonna be the super star. That’s it

Green said they believe Yak is going to be a top defenseman in the league.

I don’t think anyone should assume they didn’t take the guy they thought was gonna be the superstar.

 

[Burrowsaurus]

Okay, but that's not easy & will be expensive to get a top 4 guy when Yakemchuk fits the top 4 & exactly what they need there, a player who can play in all situations & replace a vet who is aging out & cheap on an ELC. We don't know who will be the superstar & I would much rather have a guy who helps to make the whole team better than a super star. Toronto & Edmonton has two of them each & they are still waiting to win a cup. You need good players in all positions to win a cup.

I’ll take Mcdavid over Yakemchuk personally

 

[Burrowsaurus]

Green said they believe Yak is going to be a top defenseman in the league.

I don’t think anyone should assume they didn’t take the guy they thought was gonna be the superstar.

I’m hundred percent certain they took the guy they wanted. A right shot d man with size.

 

[Sens of Anarchy]

It's Ott right side that needs to be replaced, Buium, Parekh & Dickenson are all left shots. Jensen needs to be replaced first & then Zub both right shot D & we have seen that switching players to their wrong side doesn't work very well. Who will those left shot D replace Sanderson or more likely Chabot & we would still have the right side to replace & lose a good left shot D.

You should always draft the best player... You draft LD Quinn Hughes vs RD Evan Bouchard; LW Brady Tkachuk vs C Kotkeniemi and try to address positional need by trade or ufa signing. If you end up with Sanderson and Hughes on the left side and need to move Chabot you do it. Otherwise you miss on a Norris trophy D and end up with something less.

 

[Burrowsaurus]

Bouchers isn’t putting up points because he’s playing such an NHL ready nasty game

 

[Sens of Anarchy]

Green said they believe Yak is going to be a top defenseman in the league.

I don’t think anyone should assume they didn’t take the guy they thought was gonna be the superstar.

And Poulin said he was an elite skater. Teams building up their picks is not unusual...Dorion did it all the time.

I believe our scouts loved him over the others for their reasons , whether that's superstar skill, positional need, size, aggression or a combination. His highlight pack was impressive .. his hands , his shot and his skating with the puck. Add to that a big frame and a like to play it mean and our scouts were sold.

Our scouts definitely don't take Quinn Hughes there over Yakemchuk

 

[PlayOn]

And Poulin said he was an elite skater. Teams building up their picks is not unusual...Dorion did it all the time.

I believe our scouts loved him over the others for their reasons , whether that's superstar skill, positional need, size, aggression or a combination. His highlight pack was impressive .. his hands , his shot and his skating with the puck. Add to that a big frame and a like to play it mean and our scouts were sold.

Our scouts definitely don't take Quinn Hughes there over Yakemchuk

Our scouts, likely not. Staios seems pretty shrewd though and that was a massively important pick so I can’t imagine he didn’t have a lot of viewings.

 

[Hale The Villain]

Showing off the mitts

Hate to keep banging this drum, but again his most impressive moments involve him playing like a forward.

He's at his absolute best when he's jumping into the play, attacking opposing defensemen, utulizing his sweet set of mitts and his excellent shot, particularly his backhand.

You can see it in this highlight reel too:



0:20, 5:46, 6:33, 8:20, 9:38, 10:33, 13:25, 15:40 are all examples of this.

What bugs me is that his best skills are largely wasted if he's playing defense, and his biggest liabilities (agility, IQ, defensive play, playmaking) are among the most important attributes for a defenseman at the pro level.

If he continues to struggle on the defensive side and his inability to generate offense from the blueline carries forward to the pro level, I'm optimistic that he could be turned into one heck of a powerforward as a fallback option.

 

[Sens of Anarchy]

Our scouts, likely not. Staios seems pretty shrewd though and that was a massively important pick so I can’t imagine he didn’t have a lot of viewings.

I like Staios but am not sure he has much of a background in scouting and I think its important to have in your NHL team.
Impossible to say how much he did personally and how much he relied on his scouting staff . My guess is he relied on them for information and recommendations, I am sure he saw him play though.

 

[Sens of Anarchy]

Hate to keep banging this drum, but again his most impressive moments involve him playing like a forward.

He's at his absolute best when he's jumping into the play, attacking opposing defensemen, utulizing his sweet set of mitts and his excellent shot, particularly his backhand.

You can see it in this highlight reel too:



0:20, 5:46, 6:33, 8:20, 9:38, 10:33, 13:25, 15:40 are all examples of this.

If he continues to struggle on the defensive side and his inability to generate offense from the blueline carries forward to the pro level, I'm optimistic that he could be turned into one heck of a powerforward as a fallback option.

I have thought of that too. I think he could be a heck of a winger.

 

[Sens in Process]

Dickinson puts up over 101 points in 60 games for London this year, but we're supposed to believe a 5 game sample size on the worst performing Canadian WJC team ever is a true reflection of his play?

And I'm sure in your mind Yakemchuk's impressive handful of pre-season games outweighs his dissapointing play over 60 games for Calgary this year too.

Small sample sizes can be incredibly misleading. Their play over the full season should matter a lot more when it comes to projecting their play at future levels.

It is not the sample size. I watched Dickinson play a lot over the past two seasons and said before the tournament that I expected him to struggle. The many games I watched informed my prediction that he would be overwhelmed in the tournament. There were many people who thought his numbers were inflated. If Yakemchuk made those mistakes, he would have been roasted. It is all we would have heard about.

Jake Sanderson had 15 points in 23 games in his D+1. Was that a disappointment? I bet many here were were freaking out when Drysdale turned pro in D+1 and put up impressive numbers in the AHL. In fact, I know there were. There was a lot of buyers remorse. People were like, -Drysdale has better numbers in the AHL than Sanderson in college.

Do you think Dickinson is a better prospect than Sanderson at the same stage? People will never actually put a number down for Dickinson's NHL projections, because they know it probably look look foolish down the road.

Yakemchuk did not have a disappointing season. There was plenty of growth in the player. But if you want to go on strictly numbers, sure., just like people did with Tkachuk, Sanderson, Pinto, etc.

 

[Burrowsaurus]

Hate to keep banging this drum, but again his most impressive moments involve him playing like a forward.

He's at his absolute best when he's jumping into the play, attacking opposing defensemen, utulizing his sweet set of mitts and his excellent shot, particularly his backhand.

You can see it in this highlight reel too:



0:20, 5:46, 6:33, 8:20, 9:38, 10:33, 13:25, 15:40 are all examples of this.

What bugs me is that his best skills are largely wasted if he's playing defense, and his biggest liabilities (agility, IQ, defensive play, playmaking) are among the most important attributes for a defenseman at the pro level.

If he continues to struggle on the defensive side and his inability to generate offense from the blueline carries forward to the pro level, I'm optimistic that he could be turned into one heck of a powerforward as a fallback option.

Very very very rarely do d men get successfully converted to forward. And Yakemchuk is not as good as either burns or byfuglien

 

[Gil Gunderson]

Hate to keep banging this drum, but again his most impressive moments involve him playing like a forward.

He's at his absolute best when he's jumping into the play, attacking opposing defensemen, utulizing his sweet set of mitts and his excellent shot, particularly his backhand.

You can see it in this highlight reel too:



0:20, 5:46, 6:33, 8:20, 9:38, 10:33, 13:25, 15:40 are all examples of this.

What bugs me is that his best skills are largely wasted if he's playing defense, and his biggest liabilities (agility, IQ, defensive play, playmaking) are among the most important attributes for a defenseman at the pro level.

If he continues to struggle on the defensive side and his inability to generate offense from the blueline carries forward to the pro level, I'm optimistic that he could be turned into one heck of a powerforward as a fallback option.

If he ends up being as good defensively and offensively as Evan Bouchard or Lane Hutson, I’m not really complaining, those are still positive difference makers. We’re getting ahead of ourselves but he doesn’t need to be Sanderson back there.

6’4 physical d-man who can put up 60+ points is not something that would concern me lol, even if he’s questionable in his own end. Lots of work to get there still.

 

[Hale The Villain]

It is not the sample size. I watched Dickinson play a lot over the past two seasons and said before the tournament that I expected him to struggle. The many games I watched informed my prediction that he would be overwhelmed in the tournament. There were many people who thought his numbers were inflated. If Yakemchuk made those mistakes, he would have been roasted.

Jake Sanderson had 15 points in 23 games in his D+1. Was that a disappointment? I bet many here were were freaking out when Drysdale turned pro in D+1 and put up impressive numbers in the AHL. In fact, I know there were.

Do you think Dickinson is a better prospect than Sanderson at the same stage? People will never actually put a number down for Dickinson's NHL projections, because they know it probably look look foolish down the road.

Yakemchuk did not have a disappointing season. There was plenty of growth in the player. But if you want to go on strictly numbers, sure.

I don't think you're factoring in enough how much worse every Team Canada player looked under Dave Cameron.

The leading scorer on that team had 3 points in 5 games, which is unheard of for Team Canada at the WJC. Even guys like Nadeau (almost a PPG player in the AHL) and McKenna (near-generational talent) were completely invisible. Shouldn't shock anyone that Dickinson struggled in that environment. Yakemchuk almost certainly would have too, had he been good enough to make the team.

15 points in 23 is impressive production for any 18 year old D in the NCAA, let alone from a guy capable of shutting down the opposition's best players. Not sure why you are insinuating Sanderson had a disappointing draft+1, was the complete opposite.

I'm not sure Dickinson will end up better than Sanderson, but he's probably the more impressive of the two at the same age. He's completely dominated his league. Has double the production of Yakemchuk over the same number of games. Can't pretend that's nothing.

 

[Hale The Villain]

If he ends up being as good defensively and offensively as Evan Bouchard or Lane Hutson, I’m not really complaining, those are still positive difference makers. We’re getting ahead of ourselves but he doesn’t need to be Sanderson back there.

6’4 physical d-man who can put up 60+ points is not something that would concern me lol, even if hems questionable in his own end. Lots of work to get there still.

Bouchard and Hutson were in completely different tiers as offensive defensemen at the same age compared to Yakemchuk.

I can't stress how much better their playmaking and vision is than Yakemchuk, which is what has allowed them to succeed at the NHL level, despite not being elite level skaters for thier size.

If Bouchard was putting up 40-50 points a year bringing the same kind of defensive game he does now, he wouldn't be much of an asset, and I don't think it's reasonable to expect more offense out of Yakemchuk than that at this stage.

 

[Hale The Villain]

Very very very rarely do d men get successfully converted to forward. And Yakemchuk is not as good as either burns or byfuglien

For what it's worth Yakemchuk is better than both Burns and Byfuglien at the same age.

However his skating, particularly his agility and quickness, is not as good as either guy.

Don't think Byfuglien and Burns would have had the same kind of success playing D had they not skated as well as they did. Helped them open up all kinds of shooting and passing lanes, which Yakemchuk may struggle with due to his lead feet.

 

[BondraTime]

Yakemchuk absolutely had a disappointing season relative to expectations, not sure how that can even be tried to argued

 

[Burrowsaurus]

For what it's worth Yakemchuk is better than both Burns and Byfuglien at the same age.

However his skating, particularly his agility and quickness, is not as good as either guy.

Don't think Byfuglien and Burns would have had the same kind of success playing D had they not skated as well as they did. Helped them open up all kinds of shooting and passing lanes, which Yakemchuk may struggle with due to his lead feet.

And it’s what allowed both to develop the way they did.
Not sure how much better a prospect Yakemchuk is than burns. Burns was very well thought of.

Byfuglien has a good draft year and draft +1 I wonder what the Knocks on him were that caused him to go so late in the draft

 

[Hale The Villain]

And it’s what allowed both to develop the way they did.

I'm not saying Yakemchuk is going to be as good as those two.

My point is that his skillset may be better suited to transition to forward, while their skillsets were a better fit for the blueline.