Prospect Info: 2024 7th OA : Carter Yakemchuk (RHD)

[PatrickEaves]

The Panthers just won the cup and only 3 of it's player were drafted by the team Barkov, Ekblad and Lundell so yeah drafting is important but its not the be all and end all that some hockey fans make it to be.

Let's be fair. Ottawa isn't really the free agent destination Miami is, climate-wise.

 

[albator71]

He's really not that gifted offensively. At least he wont be at the NHL level.

He really is a 2-way guy more than a guy that will win the Art Ross of Dmen.

I disagree the kid has mad skills, he has a canon of a shot and he's got a lot of jam to its game, he's gonna be a beauty. He's got all the tools to be a top D.

 

[Gil Gunderson]

Who knows if that stuff about Beaudoin is true? Then why didn't they fire that staff when they took over or let them know they were going to gt rid of them & they should find other jobs? People on here seem to think there is plenty of information out there about prospects to think they know who should be picked. There is no use on coming to any conclusion today, at least give the kid a chance on the biggest night of his life.

Staois made a great deal for Ullmark & as I said is a former NHL defenceman, I think he knows how to assess an NHL defenceman better than anyone on here or posting on X.

Mark Seidel is the most well-connected draft expert I know. The guy regularly knows who teams are picking minutes before they’re announced. I take it he knows who our back-up plan was.

The Ullmark move is irrelevant to this. I’m talking about drafting approach.

 

[Senscore]

The Panthers just won the cup and only 3 of it's player were drafted by the team Barkov, Ekblad and Lundell so yeah drafting is important but its not the be all and end all that some hockey fans make it to be.

We are a small market Canadian team.

It has to be through drafting.

 

[albator71]

Let's be fair. Ottawa isn't really the free agent destination Miami is, climate-wise.

Yeah but a lot of the players Florida acquire were by trade. I remember a time not to long ago when the Panthers we bad and no one wanted to play there, FA want to go where they can win it has nothing to do with the weather.

 

[albator71]

We are a small market Canadian team.

It has to be through drafting.

Drafting alone is not enough, you need to make good smart trades and signed the right FA, the draft is too unpredictable, unless you have the 1st overall pick, we are talking about 18 years old kids who knows how they will develop 3-4 years down the road it's a crapshoot really.

 

[Nac Mac Feegle]

I think we'll get a much better view where he is in the rookie camp (we are having one later this summer, right?). See what he does with a few older kids and guys with some draft pedigree.

It's really hard to judge kids on bottom feeder teams. They have no one to really play with, but at the same time, they get a helluva lot more icetime and opportunity than they would on a stacked roster. It really distorts a lot of things.

I really want to see what his decision making is like (especially on the defensive side of the puck) when he has some talent around him.

 

[Gil Gunderson]

To be fair, Florida’s best defenceman was Gustav Forsling, who was basically an afterthought before they acquired him. Sometimes you just need to be patient with guys who aren’t panning out as fast you thought they would.

 

[TopC0rner]

Evan Bouchard with a little less offence and more physicality?

I think he's similar to Bouchard in his draft year, except he's got way better hands. He shares the same flaws as Bouchard did (needs to improve defensive gap/reads/reaction).

I don't think that there is a big gap between Levshunov and Yakemchuk. Levshunov is a better passer and skater, while Yakemchuk has much better stickhandling and puck skills. The rest of their games are similar (Levshunov also needs a lot of work defensively).

I believe the reports about his skating are overblown. He moves well laterally with the puck and he's quite fast when he skates up the ice. He can improve his first few steps but nothing dramatic. Overall, at his size, imo his skating is a plus, not a minus.

Also, imo, he has top 5 hands in this draft amongst all players eligible, including forwards.

 

[Boud]

It's clear they really wanted a RD and I don't blame them. Getting this type of player through free agency or trade is virtually impossible and they come at a premium (both in terms of AAV and also in terms of draft position). This was a calculated pick here. You win with big defensemen that play hard.

Skating won't be an issue here IMO. Most young players improve their skating to NHL standards, it's par the course. I think Tkachuk is a prime example but also Stone and etc.

I like the pick. The ceiling is high and even if he doesn't hit his ceiling he's the type of guy who will play 20 minutes a game and have a big impact.

Sourray/Bouchard seem like the best comparable I've seen.

 

[DylanSensFan]

Flo Hockey ranks Yak at 10. So it wasn't much of a stretch taking him at 7.

 

[Bjornar Moxnes]

IMHO, while I would have preferred Catton or Parekh, Yak isn't a bad pick. Dickinson is a less intelligent Sanderson who's a LHD, so extremely redundant. Silayev has such a surprise unknown factor. Buium is dynamic and smart, but who knows if his lack of skating and size is enough.

 

[L'Aveuglette]

Staios seems to think the kid is very raw and has a lot of talent and upside. This draft report supports that opinion.

Totally what I want out of a top-10 pick, a raw talent. Wew!

 

[DanyHeatley]

If we’re lucky we might have a Phanuef. Good shot, meh skating, meh defence, not afraid to break out with the puck and join the rush, offensive minded, overcommits/risky plays but physical and takes penalties.

 

[KevinRedkey]

I disagree the kid has mad skills, he has a canon of a shot and he's got a lot of jam to its game, he's gonna be a beauty. He's got all the tools to be a top D.

I didn't say he wasn't skilled. I said he's not going to win the 'Art Ross of Defecemen'. Any defenceman as physical as Yakemchuk, who will put up the numbers you're suggesting would easily go 1st overall in a non-phenom draft.

He went 7th because his offensive ability is more akin to someone like Pietrangelo (career high 54pts) or Kronwall (career high 49pts), more so than a guy like Q.Hughes, Karlsson, or Makar. He's quite physical but isn't perfect defensively either, so he's certainly what most will consider '2-way' at the NHL level. He just happened to be one of the only real weapons on offense on his team, so his numbers pop out nicely.

 

[bicboi64]

what an absolute waste of a pick considering all the other D that were still on the board.

Parekh, Dickinson, Buium, and Silayev are all better in every way except that they don't take as many stupid penalties as Yakemchuk does (oh and Yakemchuk hits). Yakemchuk is one of the older players in the draft, he doesn't have as high of a ceiling as the other guys, and is the weakest defensively out of the 'two way' guys. At least Parekh has good positioning and a super high offensive ceiling to offset his lack of physicality. I'll eat crow if Yakemchuk ends up being a legit top 4 RD for us, but not happy about this

Sure the memes will be dope because of the Tkachuk Ostapchuk Katchouk line being anchored by Yakemchuk, but man Staios' first pick sure as heck is disappointing.

 

[Gil Gunderson]

I didn't say he wasn't skilled. I said he's not going to win the 'Art Ross of Defecemen'. Any defenceman as physical as Yakemchuk, who will put up the numbers you're suggesting would easily go 1st overall in a non-phenom draft.

He went 7th because his offensive ability is more akin to someone like Pietrangelo (career high 54pts) or Kronwall (career high 49pts), more so than a guy like Q.Hughes, Karlsson, or Makar. He's quite physical but isn't perfect defensively either, so he's certainly what most will consider '2-way' at the NHL level. He just happened to be one of the only real weapons on offense on his team, so his numbers pop out nicely.

I’m not sure how legit that argument is though. Plenty of CHL players that get traded mid-season from bad to good teams see their numbers skyrocket once they’re with the good team. Who you play with has a huge impact on your numbers in junior hockey. Look at Noah Dobson in 2018-2019 after he got traded to a team with actual offence.

Yakemchuk’s team had 2 other NHL-drafted players on it, Parekh’s team had about 9.

 

[Boud]

what an absolute waste of a pick considering all the other D that were still on the board.

Parekh, Dickinson, Buium, and Silayev are all better in every way except that they don't take as many stupid penalties as Yakemchuk does (oh and Yakemchuk hits). Yakemchuk is one of the older players in the draft, he doesn't have as high of a ceiling as the other guys, and is the weakest defensively out of the 'two way' guys. At least Parekh has good positioning and a super high offensive ceiling to offset his lack of physicality. I'll eat crow if Yakemchuk ends up being a legit top 4 RD for us, but not happy about this

Sure the memes will be dope because of the Tkachuk Ostapchuk Katchouk line being anchored by Yakemchuk, but man Staios' first pick sure as heck is disappointing.

I don't disagree with you, I think Buium and Dickinson were the clear cut best options for BPA on defense but they didn't want another lefty, quite clearly.

Parekh is just a completely different defensemen with elements that we already have on this roster. It's not a bad thing at all, we could benefit from having that different element though. They are both decent defensively but it's not their strenght. Parekh skates better and can defend faster players but he's not very good at defending in his own zone and especially in front of the net. Yakemchuk brings a different element that is harder to find nowadays and that's very valuable, he's talented, has a great shot, but also difficult to play against in the Dzone and he's relentless. He has the foundation to be a unique player.

In my opinion Yakemchuk has great potential, and I would argue even more than Parekh with his package. The problem here is the chances he hits that potential is probably too low compared to other guys that were available.

Grand scheme of things I think we should be happy we are getting a guy who will play NHL games in this top 4 for a very long time.

 

[KapG]

Idk why y’all don’t like this pick. Kid could be a killer out there for you

 

[Bjornar Moxnes]

I think he's similar to Bouchard in his draft year, except he's got way better hands. He shares the same flaws as Bouchard did (needs to improve defensive gap/reads/reaction).

I don't think that there is a big gap between Levshunov and Yakemchuk. Levshunov is a better passer and skater, while Yakemchuk has much better stickhandling and puck skills. The rest of their games are similar (Levshunov also needs a lot of work defensively).

I believe the reports about his skating are overblown. He moves well laterally with the puck and he's quite fast when he skates up the ice. He can improve his first few steps but nothing dramatic. Overall, at his size, imo his skating is a plus, not a minus.

Also, imo, he has top 5 hands in this draft amongst all players eligible, including forwards.

Sanderson is also the perfect Ekholm like partner for him.

I don't disagree with you, I think Buium and Dickinson were the clear cut best options for BPA on defense but they didn't want another lefty, quite clearly.

Parekh is just a completely different defensemen with elements that we already have on this roster. It's not a bad thing at all, we could benefit from having that different element though. They are both decent defensively but it's not their strenght. Parekh skates better and can defend faster players but he's not very good at defending in his own zone and especially in front of the net. Yakemchuk brings a different element that is harder to find nowadays and that's very valuable, he's talented, has a great shot, but also difficult to play against in the Dzone and he's relentless. He has the foundation to be a unique player.

In my opinion Yakemchuk has great potential, and I would argue even more than Parekh with his package. The problem here is the chances he hits that potential is probably too low compared to other guys that were available.

Grand scheme of things I think we should be happy we are getting a guy who will play NHL games in this top 4 for a very long time.

The issue with Dickinson is he's just a less intelligent Sanderson. I'd love Dickinson on the Flames since he can become that #1 on there, but on the Sens, there's no way he's overpassing Sanderson bare some sort of catastrophe. Yak is more risky btu has a higher ceiling for our team.

 

[Ice-Tray]

Idk why y’all don’t like this pick. Kid could be a killer out there for you

Lots of us do like the pick

 

[KapG]

I guess we now know which scout told McKenzie they had him in the top 7.

McKenzie said he was ranked 3rd or 5th by a couple scouts iirc

 

[KapG]

Lots of us do like the pick

Seems more people are disliking it although some of y’all have come around since last night

 

[Boud]

McKenzie said he was ranked 3rd or 5th by a couple scouts iirc

He said Sennecke and Yakemchuk are getting top 5 consideration from some NHL scouts that helped create his ranking. He was saying to watch out for those guys since they could realistically go higher than his ranking (he had Sennecke at 11 and Yakemchuk at 13).

These two were probably the most volatile picks in the top 15.

 

[Tuna99]

He's not.

I’ve read that scouting reports his skating is very good.

Regardless the pick shows us the Sens value Defencemam who can get shots through from the point and that one of the major points Travis Green made in his presser so I like it because the or