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

[Micklebot]

Poulin on TSN1200 said:

“What stands out is his skating at his size. He’s almost 6 ft 4 but skating is elite, truly elite. He played on a team that wasn’t at the top of the league this year and when that happens you get into situations where maybe some of the structure and the defensive play didn’t have to be there because it wasn’t demanded or commanded in those situations, they were always behind in games and he was the get up and go guy that can create a lot of offense… truly one of the elite skaters in the draft.”

Kind of confused how the knock on him is skating and Poulin is raving about it.

This is something that I've seen a fair bit of, there has been some disagreement on the subj of his skating, and while Poulin is the first I've seen to call it elite, I do think the criticisms has also been exaggerated.

 

[Nac Mac Feegle]

Did any of these projections have all the RD gone by pick 8, and none of the LD picked until 10 or later. I didn’t see any of those.

That high up the draft, you pick best player available, not position. You can prioritize positional needs 3rd round any beyond when it's 'best guess' territory.

 

[Micklebot]

That high up the draft, you pick best player available, not position. You can prioritize positional needs 3rd round any beyond when it's 'best guess' territory.

There's a difference between drafting for positional need, and valuing positions differently.

Imo, Centers and RHD are more valuable than LHD and wingers, regardless of what our positional needs might be.

I don't think we drafted a RHD because we need RHD. We drafted one because we felt he was the most valuable piece still on the board.

 

[Golden_Jet]

That high up the draft, you pick best player available, not position. You can prioritize positional needs 3rd round any beyond when it's 'best guess' territory.

Didn’t answer the question, which was who was the defensive defender with high IQ you were taking/ wanted.

I was just informing you all the RD went before any LD, it wasn’t just Sens taking the RD. None of the teams in the league took a LD before 10.

 

[Nac Mac Feegle]

Didn’t answer the question, which was who was the defensive defender with high IQ you were taking/ wanted.

I was just informing you all the RD went before any LD, it wasn’t just Sens taking the RD. None of the teams in the league took a LD before 10.

I probably would've taken Buium at 7. Yes, he isn't a defensive D, but that's who was the best available at 7.

I'd focus on smart shutdown D as a positional need around 3rd round and beyond.

 

[Wondercarrot]

Except Yakemchuk's were arguable worse than everyone else's. His skating is mediocre and his IQ is very suspect. You don't want that in a Dman.

And frankly I think Silayev's and Dickenson's offense question marks are overstated.

So Yakemchuks deficiencies are underrated and everyone else are overrated?
This is based on extensive viewings?
What do you like about Silayevs offensive game?

From what I’ve watched I’d say the opposite.
Though I’d have liked Buium or Silayev, I can 100% understand why they went with Yakemchuk. If he works out he’s something of a unicorn type player.
Big mean high end offence RD

 

[Burrowsaurus]

Poulin on TSN1200 said:

“What stands out is his skating at his size. He’s almost 6 ft 4 but skating is elite, truly elite. He played on a team that wasn’t at the top of the league this year and when that happens you get into situations where maybe some of the structure and the defensive play didn’t have to be there because it wasn’t demanded or commanded in those situations, they were always behind in games and he was the get up and go guy that can create a lot of offense… truly one of the elite skaters in the draft.”

Kind of confused how the knock on him is skating and Poulin is raving about it.

Yakemchuk is an elite skater compared to dudes Poulin played against. Is what Poulin means ? I don’t know.

Which is how he still think about hockey

 

[Wondercarrot]

Yakemchuk is an elite skater compared to dudes Poulin played against. Is what Poulin means ? I don’t know.

Which is how he still think about hockey

Probably thinks he’s a really good skater based on him consistently blowing around guys.

 

[Burrowsaurus]

Probably thinks he’s a really good skater based on him consistently blowing around guys.

Yeah. One of the masterminds behind the dark Toronto maple leafs days is not a guy who I’m listening to.

Don’t hate yakemchuk tho

 

[Micklebot]

Came across this vid on Yakemchuk, I can't quite put a name to it, but I think this guy used to do scouting vids under a different profile, for some reason I'm thinking his name was Yanick
Edit: I think I might have been mixing him up with Yanick St Pierre, definitely different guys

 

[Icelevel]

Came across this vid on Yakemchuk, I can't quite put a name to it, but I think this guy used to do scouting vids under a different profile, for some reason I'm thinking his name was Yanick

He’s a Montreal guy but yeah he does great prospect profile videos. One of the better channels imo.

 

[Norris4Norris]

Yakemchuk scored almost as many goals. And was on a way worse team and has a physical edge. Parehk has no defenisve upside. He's very slight and is not strong nor is his skating.

Ok, that's fair. Craig Button was calling Parekh the next Erik Karlsson. However Karlsson was a strong skater from the beginning if I am correct.

Karlsson was seen as a scrawny player with only offensive upside and very little defensive upside. he matured and became a great defensive player.

They must have thought Yakemchuk’s game would translate better in the NHL

I guess it is just tough for me to pass on a 6 foot dude who has ridiculous offensive instinct. He reminds me of Karlsson, came in with little understanding of how a well rounded defenseman he would become.

 

[Norris4Norris]

Simple, they think Yakemchuk is better.

Right, obviously the scouting staff likes Yakemchuk. It is just that Parekh has been compared to Karlsson and in the past when we make a pick off the board it turns into a bust, like Boucher.

 

[Icelevel]

Right, obviously the scouting staff likes Yakemchuk. It is just that Parekh has been compared to Karlsson and in the past when we make a pick off the board it turns into a bust, like Boucher.

Yakemchuk is amazing. Big strong and offensive.
Parekh is very smart. Small weak and offensive.

 

[h2]

Right, obviously the scouting staff likes Yakemchuk. It is just that Parekh has been compared to Karlsson and in the past when we make a pick off the board it turns into a bust, like Boucher.

Yakemchuk wasn't off the board though. There's no Boucher comparison here.

It's a very valid choice at #7 overall, and one I'm excited to see play out.

Claiming they reached in the 2nd is fair.

 

[SENATOR]

There are two huge problems with Yakemchuk. HIs skating and Hockey IQ. Those are two must have essentials for NHL D. Slow boots lead to a trouble with a gap. For example Thompson never was good enough with the gap and how box up properly. He is gone. Chabot has a low D hockey IQ and that's why he needs a partner with a better one. Chycrun as good as a skater he is, never learnt how to gap properly, win puck battles and how to box players up. Sens want to trade him. The only D Sens have, who can gap, box, win puck battles, make first pass - are Zub and Sanderson. And the only reason Ykemchuk was drafted that high, because Ottawa is not a good destination for free agents and almost every player has Ottawa on their NTC list. And the biggest problem with Yakemchuk has to learn how to gap, pass, skate, box, PK only against NHL forwards. It means a prolonged rebuild time. Parekh for example with a Hockey IQ off the charts will be a star defensively and offensively.

 

[Norris4Norris]

Yakemchuk wasn't off the board though. There's no Boucher comparison here.

It's a very valid choice at #7 overall, and one I'm excited to see play out.

Claiming they reached in the 2nd is fair.

Ok well just playing devil's advocate is all.

I think it is a smart pick, hard to tell at this point. Hopefully he shines in the NHL.

 

[Erika]

I think this is a great pick.
Yakemchuk reminds me of Dustin Byfuglien. Prime years Dustin is what I can see as projection and potential upside for him... and I understand why Ottawa took him instead of the other defencemen available. They went for the high risk, high reward option. I would have prefered Anton Silayev the supposedly next Chara, but Russian factor is there and the sens doesn't draft many players straight out of Russia in recent memory

 

[Dionysus]

Excited to see how Carter develops! High risk, high reward pick. If he hits, you are looking at a big, physical two-way Right D with a great shot and puck skills. Those players are incredibly hard to find. Shea Weber type.

Development camp will be interesting, hasn't been much excitement for it the last few years with the lack of high-end prospects.

 

[HSF]

still think we will regret not taking Parekh or Buium

Don't mind the Carter pick as he has potential

 

[Erik Alfredsson]

That high up the draft, you pick best player available, not position. You can prioritize positional needs 3rd round any beyond when it's 'best guess' territory.

I disagree. Ottawa is in the exact position where they should be considering positional needs with a 7th overall pick. That's a guy who will be able to play in about 2 years, and with a young core with many positions already filled looking to take the next step, it would be very shortsighted to not consider who is ahead of these prospects in the depth chart. It doesn't make much sense to take a guy like Dickinson or Buium because how is he ever going to play on this team? We have Chabot and Sanderson signed long term, and you're not trading either of those guys away to make room for an unproven rookie taken at #7.

The goal is to build a team, not just a random collection of talent. You'd have a point if they went and grabbed some RHD projected to go 28th or something because they wanted to fill that position, but Yak was always considered a top pick among the rest of the dmen in this draft, so positional need should be considered when determining which of the guys you're going to end up taking.

 

[Sensmileletsgo]

Ok, that's fair. Craig Button was calling Parekh the next Erik Karlsson. However Karlsson was a strong skater from the beginning if I am correct.

Karlsson was seen as a scrawny player with only offensive upside and very little defensive upside. he matured and became a great defensive player.


I guess it is just tough for me to pass on a 6 foot dude who has ridiculous offensive instinct. He reminds me of Karlsson, came in with little understanding of how a well rounded defenseman he would become.

Agreed. I will be watching closely to see who turns out better in Yamechuk vs Parekh in the coming years.

Hopefully it works out for us like it did in Sanderson vs Drysdale

 

[aragorn]

I disagree. Ottawa is in the exact position where they should be considering positional needs with a 7th overall pick. That's a guy who will be able to play in about 2 years, and with a young core with many positions already filled looking to take the next step, it would be very shortsighted to not consider who is ahead of these prospects in the depth chart. It doesn't make much sense to take a guy like Dickinson or Buium because how is he ever going to play on this team? We have Chabot and Sanderson signed long term, and you're not trading either of those guys away to make room for an unproven rookie taken at #7.

The goal is to build a team, not just a random collection of talent. You'd have a point if they went and grabbed some RHD projected to go 28th or something because they wanted to fill that position, but Yak was always considered a top pick among the rest of the dmen in this draft, so positional need should be considered when determining which of the guys you're going to end up taking.

Excellent Post. And to add to this people compare the prospects to each other when they should be looking at the team & what they need sooner rather than later. We have a very young team where their best players are all still very young & there will be time for Yakemchuk to join this group in a position they need with the skillset offensively & defensively they need.

I expect that Yakemchuk could be on this team as soon as the following season when Hamonic is off the team. He can start with Kleven on the 3rd pairing making that duo very difficult to play against. They don't need his offence immediately, but as he gets comfortable in the NHL he can slowly move up a pairing until he is experienced & good enough for the top pairing in a few yrs. At some point this is going to be a very difficult team to play against with Tkachuk, Ostapchuk, Kleven & Yakemchuk in their lineup to add to their finnesse players.

 

[PlayOn]

I disagree. Ottawa is in the exact position where they should be considering positional needs with a 7th overall pick. That's a guy who will be able to play in about 2 years, and with a young core with many positions already filled looking to take the next step, it would be very shortsighted to not consider who is ahead of these prospects in the depth chart. It doesn't make much sense to take a guy like Dickinson or Buium because how is he ever going to play on this team? We have Chabot and Sanderson signed long term, and you're not trading either of those guys away to make room for an unproven rookie taken at #7.

The goal is to build a team, not just a random collection of talent. You'd have a point if they went and grabbed some RHD projected to go 28th or something because they wanted to fill that position, but Yak was always considered a top pick among the rest of the dmen in this draft, so positional need should be considered when determining which of the guys you're going to end up taking.

Yakemchuk is going to be the end of Chabot anyway, sooner or later. This discourse about Chabot has never made sense because any of the top defencemen available was going to render him disposable, either because it was a LD or because it was an offensive RD. There was no right shot defensive stalwart available.

Yakemchuk will need to be utilized on the PP, and Sanderson isn’t coming off, so that covers both units. What most likely happens is Sanderson runs the first pair and takes on the hard matchups and Yakemchuk runs the second pair and gets to produce against lesser opponents. Essentially, this is Chabot’s current role and they are unlikely to both co-exist on the same pairing.

Anyway, I’m looking forward to having him on the team eventually. It’ll be huge for us if he pans out.

 

[aragorn]

Defensive Dept Chart:
LD ---------------RD

Chabot - Zub
Sanderson - Yakemchuk
Kleven - JBD/Hamonic
Donovan - Guennette
Eliasson - Matinpalo
Hamara - Tourê
Sebrango - Hoyt