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

[Senator Stanley]

As you saw in poll #11, it's directly linked to the 2024 Consensus NHL Draft Rankings

2024 Consensus NHL Draft Rankings

The 2024 NHL Entry Draft begins on Friday, and EOTP has been keeping track of most of the rankings to come out ahead of the draft. Some rankings have more correlation to how the draft will unfold than…

www.habseyesontheprize.com

And if you want to specifically look at McKenzie's list : 13th OA

It would be fun to have an average of NHL teams based on their lists, released after the draft but I doubt they'd want to make that available even though that'd be a lot of fun for us

Can we stop with this misleading framing? It's going to take on a life of its own the further we get from the draft and the more people forget the context.

There were a consensus 12-13 players in this draft. Somebody had to fall to the end of that tier and somebody had to be ranked at the end of that tier. The guy who fell was Buium. Does that mean he was a "mid teens" guy? No - he was a top 10 quality prospect in a draft with 12 or 13 guys who were legitimate top 10 prospects. Yakemchuk may have been ranked near the end of that tier, on a consensus public lists, but he was a legitimate top 10 prospect, he had the profile of a guy who would go higher than his rankings (big guys who play premium positions typically rise), and anybody who actually followed the draft knew he could go well within the top 10.

 

[Hale The Villain]

Unfortunately your content reflects this. You said Saginaw had no elite forwards... You're saying parehk plays like Karlsson... You're your own worst enemy.

Saginaw's leading scorer at forward had 76 points in 67 games. That's not elite and you know it.

Their best forward was Owen Beck who only played 32 games for them but put up 51 points.

Parekh wasn't leeching points off by passing to elite CHL forwards.

And he's the most Karlsson-esque D I've ever seen in the offensive zone coming out of the draft. He's not an elite skater, which is why the best comparison for him is player Karlsson is now, not the guy who was dominating the league pre-Cooke.

 

[Hale The Villain]

You thought Tkachuk was a terrible pick you said he wouldn't turn out with the same confidence you had in Yakemchuk. You haven't tracked bigger physical players since Jr and watched them develop. It's literally almost an identical situation.

Development is not linear. Big players take longer to get there its been proven time and time again. Saying Yakemchuck is ahead in Development of Parahk is false. He entered the league st 5'10 he's grown 5 inches in two years and has a late birthday. There's been steady improvement and growth year over year. If anything dispite Yakemchuk being 5 1/2 months older he's less physically mature in his body.

The bolded is 100 percent false. Saginaw was an absolute wagon. Absurd comment. Stacked from top to bottom knew they were hosting the mem cup and loaded up all year. If you actually think this then try and tell me that Parehk is like Karlsson that's how I know you have not watched . He doesn't have the explosive speed to create separation. He doesn't create off the rush. He doesn't not have the tools. You know who does, Buium. An NHL forcheck is a different animal d men need to be able to create separation. Parehk is the most risky pick in the entire top 12. Reminds me of a right handed Ghostesbeher. Elite offensive d man who is a liability when he doesn't have the puck. I watched him alot this year. Definition of an elite Jr player with skills that are questionable to translate. Alot like Demidov elite offensive skillset that torches weak competition. These guys are YouTube superstars. But that's not how the games played. Are they talented enough to turn out, of course but not by doing it the way they did it in Jr.

I didn't like the Tkachuk pick, but I'll put my overall record as an amateur amateur scout against anyone.

You love throwing out the idea that all big players are underdeveloped and just need time, but it's lazy and does not hold for every player.

It's been pointed out numerous times that Yakemchuk's supposed massive growth spurt is not what it seems due to the WHL drafting players after their 14YR old season, while the OHL and QMJHL drafts players after their 15YR old season. He didn't enter the league at 5'10, that's his height when he was drafted to the WHL.

Parekh is a much better skater than Yakemchuk. He's not a Karlsson or Makar level skater but his agility and edgework is excellent. That's far more important for a D than top speed. Yakemchuk is the opposite, he's sluggish and unagile but his top speed is fine. He'll have a lot more trouble than Parekh when it comes to creating separation and opening shooting lanes at the NHL level.

Your criticism of Parekh playing a junior game is completely backwards and seems to stem entirely because of his size. His style of play will translate just fine, it's Yakemchuk's rush-heavy game and attempts to dangle defensemen that will not work at the NHL level. He's the guy who's going to need to adjust to be successful.

 

[BondraTime]

I was responding to his follow up posts, you know like you do in a forum, if you don’t like follow ups, then just ignore them lmao. Someone take your puppy.

The follow ups about the exact same conversation in which Yakemchuk wasn't being talked about, yes

 

[bert]

Saginaw's leading scorer at forward had 76 points in 67 games. That's not elite and you know it.

Their best forward was Owen Beck who only played 32 games for them but put up 51 points.

Parekh wasn't leeching points off by passing to elite CHL forwards.

And he's the most Karlsson-esque D I've ever seen in the offensive zone coming out of the draft. He's not an elite skater, which is why the best comparison for him is player Karlsson is now, not the guy who was dominating the league pre-Cooke.

Saginaw scored 303 goals in 68 games but yeah Parekh had no help.... A team that was fully loaded with 4 scoring lines....

Owen Beck two time team Canada WJC player who had 51 points in 32 games on Saginaw... 30 points in 25 games on Peterborough... No one elite by OHL standards..... He won mem cup MVP.

Good try on that one.

Lets not even mention Misa who was on the 3rd line is the player who had 76 points in 67 games. Just cementing the fact you know nothing about that team which leads me to the obvious conclusion you did not watch.

Never said the bolded simply pointed out that he was on a very good team which you are denying. That was your argument. They won the memorial cup.... But you are suggesting it didnt help?...

Karlsson has elite explosive speed to give him self room and lead the rush he still does it all the time. Parehk doesnt have that trait you can see it in his stride he will never have that. Yakemchuk has a better stride withmore room to develop quickness and explosiveness because he has better technique.

 

[bert]

I didn't like the Tkachuk pick, but I'll put my overall record as an amateur amateur scout against anyone.

You love throwing out the idea that all big players are underdeveloped and just need time, but it's lazy and does not hold for every player.

It's been pointed out numerous times that Yakemchuk's supposed massive growth spurt is not what it seems due to the WHL drafting players after their 14YR old season, while the OHL and QMJHL drafts players after their 15YR old season. He didn't enter the league at 5'10, that's his height when he was drafted to the WHL.

Parekh is a much better skater than Yakemchuk. He's not a Karlsson or Makar level skater but his agility and edgework is excellent. That's far more important for a D than top speed. Yakemchuk is the opposite, he's sluggish and unagile but his top speed is fine. He'll have a lot more trouble than Parekh when it comes to creating separation and opening shooting lanes at the NHL level.

Your criticism of Parekh playing a junior game is completely backwards and seems to stem entirely because of his size. His style of play will translate just fine, it's Yakemchuk's rush-heavy game and attempts to dangle defensemen that will not work at the NHL level. He's the guy who's going to need to adjust to be successful.

Tough one to follow up there. We have been discussing prospects for years. Id take literally almost anyone on here over your track record. I know because myself and others have argued it over and over again. Watching a player in Jr and not being able to project them is your MO. Parekh does not play an NHL style game that translates at this point. He was insulated by an incredible team last year. He has alot of talent and he should be able to play but to have watched him and thought to yourself thats gonna work in the NHL. That is telling in its self.

 

[Hale The Villain]

Saginaw scored 303 goals in 68 games but yeah Parekh had no help.... A team that was fully loaded with 4 scoring lines....

Owen Beck two time team Canada WJC player who had 51 points in 32 games on Saginaw... 30 points in 25 games on Peterborough... No one elite by OHL standards..... He won mem cup MVP.

Good try on that one.

Lets not even mention Misa who was on the 3rd line is the player who had 76 points in 67 games. Just cementing the fact you know nothing about that team which leads me to the obvious conclusion you did not watch.

Never said the bolded simply pointed out that he was on a very good team which you are denying. That was your argument. They won the memorial cup.... But you are suggesting it didnt help?...

Karlsson has elite explosive speed to give him self room and lead the rush he still does it all the time. Parehk doesnt have that trait you can see it in his stride he will never have that. Yakemchuk has a better stride withmore room to develop quickness and explosiveness because he has better technique.

I said Parekh wasn't leeching off of elite OHL forwards, and that's objectively true no matter how much you'd like to pretend I said something different.

Elite CHL forwards produce 100+ points. The highest scoring forward on his team had 76 points, less than the highest scoring Hitman forward Oliver Tulk for what that's worth.

Playing on a good team helps offensive numbers, but he doesn't play the whole game and Saginaw having a deep roster helps less compared to if he were passing to a couple elite OHL forwards with the man advantage. He was the driver on that team and created most of the goals he was involved in.

Tough one to follow up there. We have been discussing prospects for years. Id take literally almost anyone on here over your track record. I know because myself and others have argued it over and over again. Watching a player in Jr and not being able to project them is your MO. Parekh does not play an NHL style game that translates at this point. He was insulated by an incredible team last year. He has alot of talent and he should be able to play but to have watched him and thought to yourself thats gonna work in the NHL. That is telling in its self.

You argue like a child, throwing out petty insults and personal attacks in every post, and yet I'm pretty sure you're an adult.

It's embarassing. Get help.

 

[bert]

I said Parekh wasn't leeching off of elite OHL forwards, and that's objectively true no matter how much you'd like to pretend I said something different.

Elite CHL forwards produce 100+ points. The highest scoring forward on his team had 76 points, less than the highest scoring Hitman forward Oliver Tulk for what that's worth.

Playing on a good team helps offensive numbers, but he doesn't play the whole game and Saginaw having a deep roster helps less compared to if he were passing to a couple elite OHL forwards with the man advantage. He was the driver on that team and created most of the goals he was involved in.



You argue like a child, throwing out petty insults and personal attacks in every post, and yet I'm pretty sure you're an adult.

It's embarassing. Get help.

They were 4 lines deep he had lots of help you are trying to say that a team that is worse that scores less goals but has individuals scoring more points is somehow better....

All this stemmed from was the obvious fact that Parekh was in a better situation to accumulate assists than Yakemchuk. You said he wasnt, very strange argument.

Just take the L and lets move on.

 

[bicboi64]

The more I read, it just sounds like Yakemchuk is going to be like an RD Darnell Nurse who takes less penalties but has some goal-scoring potential. Not a bad necessarily, but I hope he's defensively better than Nurse and never is signed to an inflated contract lol

 

[Alf Silfversson]

Luckily then by your metrics, Yak led the WHL in goals for a defender then with 30.

I literally said that Yak has the ability to add something different to our recently drafted D prospect pool. Can you not follow more than the most recent in a thread of replies?

Yak = offense
The vast majority of our recent drafted D = no offense

Hope that makes it more clear.

 

[Golden_Jet]

Tough one to follow up there. We have been discussing prospects for years. Id take literally almost anyone on here over your track record. I know because myself and others have argued it over and over again.

Agree, I pointed out the Tkachuk one and another one, months ago, and the response was along the lines, about going back in time to make poster look bad.
Poster has a poor track record and can’t take criticism, just move on.

 

[Burrowsaurus]

The old bert "you disagree with me so you've obviously never watched the player" non-argument argument.

Classic.

Agree, I pointed out the Tkachuk one and another one, months ago, and the response was along the lines, about going back in time to make poster look bad.
Poster has a poor track record and can’t take criticism, just move on.

I’m pretty sure Bert was creaming over parekh mid season lol. Could be wrong.

 

[bert]

I’m pretty sure Bert was creaming over parekh mid season lol. Could be wrong.

Go find it. I sourced a scout that liked the player but I said I hadnt seen him enough. Then I actually watched him and gave very honest opinions on the player citing he was the last guy I wanted them to pick out of the top 12 consensus D men that the sens could target with the pick.

 

[Micklebot]

The more I read, it just sounds like Yakemchuk is going to be like an RD Darnell Nurse who takes less penalties but has some goal-scoring potential. Not a bad necessarily, but I hope he's defensively better than Nurse and never is signed to an inflated contract lol

Wasn't Nurse projected to be more of a defensive Dman? I though Nurse was more of a guy who got by on his athleticism, I don't really see the comp

 

[Senator Stanley]

The more I read, it just sounds like Yakemchuk is going to be like an RD Darnell Nurse who takes less penalties but has some goal-scoring potential. Not a bad necessarily, but I hope he's defensively better than Nurse and never is signed to an inflated contract lol

I don't see the Nurse comp. Nurse's game is really built around his great athleticism, and I've never seen him as a natural offensive player despite that one big year.

If you want to build a picture of him in your mind, I'd start with Evan Bouchard and then contrast from there. They've both 6'3" right shot defenceman with big shots, who think offence-first, and who skate well enough. Bouchard's vision and IQ are both high-end, so in that regard I'd call Yakemchuk a poor-man's version of Bouchard. At the same time, Yakemchuk is a more physical defender than Bouchard, and hopefully projects as a more well rounded defender.

Yakemchuk himself has said he watches a lot of Bouchard, which scares me a bit. If I were the Sens development people, I'd caution Yakemchuk against emulating Bouchard too much. Bouchard's lackadaisical style is not one that many people can get away with, and I see some of those habits in Yakemchuk right now.

 

[Tuna99]

I don't see the Nurse comp. Nurse's game is really built around his great athleticism, and I've never seen him as a natural offensive player despite that one big year.

If you want to build a picture of him in your mind, I'd start with Evan Bouchard and then contrast from there. They've both 6'3" right shot defenceman with big shots, who think offence-first, and who skate well enough. Bouchard's vision and IQ are both high-end, so in that regard I'd call Yakemchuk a poor-man's version of Bouchard. At the same time, Yakemchuk is a more physical defender than Bouchard, and hopefully projects as a more well rounded defender.

Yakemchuk himself has said he watches a lot of Bouchard, which scares me a bit. If I were the Sens development people, I'd caution Yakemchuk against emulating Bouchard too much. Bouchard's lackadaisical style is not one that many people can get away with, and I see some of those habits in Yakemchuk right now.

Probably Yakumchuk comparable to Bouchard is once the play is in the zone he can makes plays from the blue line and get shots on net.

Ottwa building a cycle team and having offensive control at the blue line with the ability to get shots through is a key having a good cycle game - Yakumchuk fits the profile

 

[Sens in Process]

I don't see the Nurse comp. Nurse's game is really built around his great athleticism, and I've never seen him as a natural offensive player despite that one big year.

If you want to build a picture of him in your mind, I'd start with Evan Bouchard and then contrast from there. They've both 6'3" right shot defenceman with big shots, who think offence-first, and who skate well enough. Bouchard's vision and IQ are both high-end, so in that regard I'd call Yakemchuk a poor-man's version of Bouchard. At the same time, Yakemchuk is a more physical defender than Bouchard, and hopefully projects as a more well rounded defender.

Yakemchuk himself has said he watches a lot of Bouchard, which scares me a bit. If I were the Sens development people, I'd caution Yakemchuk against emulating Bouchard too much. Bouchard's lackadaisical style is not one that many people can get away with, and I see some of those habits in Yakemchuk right now.

I think this an accurate description of Yakemchuk.

We probably disagree on the evaluation of Yakemchuk's vision and hockey IQ. When he is at his best, he can command the blueline(more with his hands, length, and instincts than his feet at this point) and is a very good distributer of the puck. I believe he sees the ice quite well and knows how to setup plays by changing angles and manipulating players. There is an underappreciated subtlety to his game that can hopefully be enhanced and developed over his more theatrical dekes or overly enthusiastic pinches and solo rushes. This remains an open question. Offensively, he could learn from Bouchard and let the game come to him more, instead of forcing it at times.

However, there was a game I was watching on replay , from early in the season, where the announcer mentioned Calgary had like 6 sixteen year-olds and 7 or 8 seventeen year-olds in the line-up. I still maintain that his reckless style was more of a function of being on a young, offensively challenged team.

Yakemchuk and the people around him believe he is still growing. One of his older brothers, Connor, who is 6'4, had a very late growth spurt. So even though he is a late birthday, there is a real sense he is still growing into his body while his frame continues to grow.

 

[bicboi64]

I don't see the Nurse comp. Nurse's game is really built around his great athleticism, and I've never seen him as a natural offensive player despite that one big year.

I should've added that comparison comes to mind because of his skating separation after the first few strides. A good top speed, but not the skating ability to do much with it in terms of defensive positioning.

 

[Senator Stanley]

I think this an accurate description of Yakemchuk.

We probably disagree on the evaluation of Yakemchuk's vision and hockey IQ. When he is at his best, he can command the blueline(more with his hands, length, and instincts than his feet at this point) and is a very good distributer of the puck. I believe he sees the ice quite well and knows how to setup plays by changing angles and manipulating players. There is an underappreciated subtlety to his game that can hopefully be enhanced and developed over his more theatrical dekes or overly enthusiastic pinches and solo rushes. This remains an open question. Offensively, he could learn from Bouchard and let the game come to him more, instead of forcing it at times.

However, there was a game I was watching on replay , from early in the season, where the announcer mentioned Calgary had like 6 sixteen year-olds and 7 or 8 seventeen year-olds in the line-up. I still maintain that his reckless style was more of a function of being on a young, offensively challenged team.

Yakemchuk and the people around him believe he is still growing. One of his older brothers, Connor, who is 6'4, had a very late growth spurt. So even though he is a late birthday, there is a real sense he is still growing into his body while the frame continues to grow.

I'm not saying Yakemchuk's vision or IQ are necessarily poor, but Bouchard vision and processing ability is about as high end as it gets. I don't see that in Yakemchuk.

 

[Sens in Process]

I'm not saying Yakemchuk's vision or IQ are necessarily poor, but Bouchard vision and processing ability is about as high end as it gets. I don't see that in Yakemchuk.

I agree. Bouchard has a low panic threshold, which really works well in the offensive zone , but can work against him the d-zone.

If Yak ends up being a poor man's Bouchard in the offensive zone and a physically robust defender in the d-zone, I have trouble understanding why people are so upset with the pick. That sounds like a hell of a player that would be a highly sought after around the league, especially if he continues to improve his skating.

In the WJC - Team Roster thread, it was mentioned by a poster in attendance, who spoke with scouts, at the intra-squad game that the players on Team Red had an inside track on making the roster. If that is the case, it is a good sign Yakemchuk being RD1 paired with Molendyk. It is early and we will see how things turn out. But at this point, hockeycanada seems to have a favourable opinion on the player.

 

[Senator Stanley]

I agree. Bouchard has a low panic threshold, which really works well in the offensive zone , but can work against him the d-zone.

If Yak ends up being a poor man's Bouchard in the offensive zone and a physically robust defender in the d-zone, I have trouble understanding why people are so upset with the pick. That sounds like a hell of a player that would be a highly sought after around the league, especially if he continues to improve his skating.

In the WJC - Team Roster thread, it was mentioned by a poster in attendance, who spoke with scouts, at the intra-squad game that the players on Team Red had an inside track on making the roster. If that is the case, it is a good sign Yakemchuk being RD1 paired with Molendyk. It is early and we will see how things turn out. But at this point, hockeycanada seems to have a favourable opinion on the player.

I think the reason people are uneasy, myself included, is they don't have confidence in Yakemchuk's projection at either end. Is he gifted enough offensively for it to translate to the NHL level, and/or will he become strong defensively? Both are question marks to me. There's a world where (1) the offence isn't quite good enough and that part of his game disappears (see Cody Ceci going from junior to the NHL) and (2) he's also not that strong defensively, and he becomes this Ceci-like right shot defenceman who plays in the league because of his size, handedness and pedigree, but isn't actually good. The upside of course is that he becomes great on both ends.

Bouchard is able to play with that low panic threshold because he has incredible smarts and is an incredibly quick processor. It's why Yakemchuk emulating Bouchard scares me, because Bouchard's game shouldn't work. He only gets away with it because he's a special thinker.

If Yakemchuk wants to play like Bouchard in the offensive zone, that's one thing. I don't think he'll ever be that effective because I don't think he sees the ice as well as Bouchard, but it's a reasonable style to model yourself after. But I think Yakemchuk would be a disaster defensively at the NHL level if he thought he could play like Bouchard back there.

 

[Wallet Inspector]

I agree. Bouchard has a low panic threshold, which really works well in the offensive zone , but can work against him the d-zone.

If Yak ends up being a poor man's Bouchard in the offensive zone and a physically robust defender in the d-zone, I have trouble understanding why people are so upset with the pick. That sounds like a hell of a player that would be a highly sought after around the league, especially if he continues to improve his skating.

In the WJC - Team Roster thread, it was mentioned by a poster in attendance, who spoke with scouts, at the intra-squad game that the players on Team Red had an inside track on making the roster. If that is the case, it is a good sign Yakemchuk being RD1 paired with Molendyk. It is early and we will see how things turn out. But at this point, hockeycanada seems to have a favourable opinion on the player.

In the same thread though, someone watching stated that Yakemchuk looked flat-footed an unimpressive.

 

[Senator Stanley]

In the same thread though, someone watching stated that Yakemchuk looked flat-footed an unimpressive.

It was Germanspitfire who posted that, and he had Yakemchuk ranked 20th on his board. Not to take anything away from what he saw or reported, but he wasn't a big fan of the player two months ago, either.

 

[OD99]

I think the reason people are uneasy, myself included, is they don't have confidence in Yakemchuk's projection at either end. Is he gifted enough offensively for it to translate to the NHL level, and/or will he become strong defensively? Both are question marks to me. There's a world where (1) the offence isn't quite good enough and that part of his game disappears (see Cody Ceci going from junior to the NHL) and (2) he's also not that strong defensively, and he becomes this Ceci-like right shot defenceman who plays in the league because of his size, handedness and pedigree, but isn't actually good. The upside of course is that he becomes great on both ends.

Bouchard is able to play with that low panic threshold because he has incredible smarts and is an incredibly quick processor. It's why Yakemchuk emulating Bouchard scares me, because Bouchard's game shouldn't work. He only gets away with it because he's a special thinker.

If Yakemchuk wants to play like Bouchard in the offensive zone, that's one thing. I don't think he'll ever be that effective because I don't think he sees the ice as well as Bouchard, but it's a reasonable style to model yourself after. But I think Yakemchuk would be a disaster defensively at the NHL level if he thought he could play like Bouchard back there.

Let's remember Bouchard made the Oilers 4 years after being drafted.

There were a lot of questions marks about him early on, but he progressed and eventually became a full time NHLer. His 1st 2 seasons he was a .5 PPG player and then exploded last year.

Covid may have played a part in how long he took, but letting Yak develop and having him join the team in 3 or 4 years isn't the end of the world. We want a well rounded player.

 

[Xspyrit]

And if you read Mackenzie's writeup, you see that Yakemchuk was seen as in the same grouping as the other top D prospects, with some teams considering him as high as 4th. There was no clear consensus for the guys 3-15 or so, which is why a guy like Buium ranked third on the consensus you linked, or Silayev ranked 4th on Mackenzie's list, went 12th and 10th respectively.

Saying you didn't consider Yakemchuk because he was expected to go in the mid teens just shows you didn't really understand the dynamic of this year's draft and how the tiers fell.

It's not about "understanding", it's about barely putting any time into it so no, I didn't read the writeup. You're lucky if this whole Melnyk/Dorion/DJ trifecta era didn't bring Senators apathy in you but I can't lie, it certainly did for me and not just a bit. So good thing if Yakemchuk was perceived higher than I thought

Historically, I was always investing 10x more time before a draft...

Was never projected to go mid teens by actual hockey scouts. Maybe some arm chair chart pumpers but even Pronman had him #3 on his list. Professionals who did scout him had him going in the top 10. Secondly there was a very distinct top 12 to this draft and after number 1 the next 11 players could have gone any which way. And likely will go any which way when you look at this draft in 10 to 15 years.

I read #13 on McKenzie's list and #15 on the average of 16 sources so that's how I came up with "mid teens"

Id love for you to show me all the D men that lead the WHL D in goal scoring are 6'3 have a mean streak and have hands who get picked in the teens. I will wait. If you can provide some examples I am all ears.

I find the push back over the Yakemchuk pick so perplexing. He plays the most sought after position in hockey, he scores goals, has terrific individual skill, breaks the puck out, clears the crease and has size. How people don't like this type of prospect is mind boggling.

Especially considering how soft and easy to play against this D core is. While the goaltending has obviously been weak specifically last year, the amount of goals this team gives up because the D dont box out, clear the crease or tie up sticks is sickening to watch.

I can't be part of any of these conversations since I didn't do any research. I only scouted the guys that were around the Sens pick on Mac's list, and even then, very briefly compared to what I would do in the past. For Yakemchuk, I saw where he was ranked, looked at his stats, a few highlights and that's about it.

Note that I only said as such. The comment that brought this conversation was : "I obviously didn't scout him much before the draft (since he was expected in the mid teens)"

Nothing more. What's funny is that comment was made after quoting your post, so you already knew!

You didnt even read Mackenzies article did you.

No, and never said I did.

He even talks about him as a top 5 prospect. Teams also weight RD positional value very high. There is no coincidence out of the big 6 D men all three right handed guys went first.

Bob McKenzie's Final NHL Draft Ranking: Many attractive and diverse options after Macklin Celebrini | TSN

This year’s final ranking, from No. 2 on, is much more challenging to assemble because of two factors - many more divergent opinions and variance on even the top 10 picks and two Russians forcing their way into the conversation in the upper echelon.

www.tsn.ca

Good to know.

Can we stop with this misleading framing? It's going to take on a life of its own the further we get from the draft and the more people forget the context.

There were a consensus 12-13 players in this draft. Somebody had to fall to the end of that tier and somebody had to be ranked at the end of that tier. The guy who fell was Buium. Does that mean he was a "mid teens" guy? No - he was a top 10 quality prospect in a draft with 12 or 13 guys who were legitimate top 10 prospects. Yakemchuk may have been ranked near the end of that tier, on a consensus public lists, but he was a legitimate top 10 prospect, he had the profile of a guy who would go higher than his rankings (big guys who play premium positions typically rise), and anybody who actually followed the draft knew he could go well within the top 10.

Well I am sorry for stating he was listed #13 on McKenzie's list and that I didn't scout him for that reason. Yes my post lacked context because I didn't know about it. Didn't realize it would create such turmoil lol