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

[Stutzlaaaa]

Give him the 9 games and make the decision then. He has earned it more than Addison, jbd, Hamonic and even kleven tbh

Indeed it's a shame that we didn't see more of Kleven I though this was the year where he really shows he blongs in Preseason. I think the fact that Yak took all the spotlight and that he has no real competition for bottom 6LD made him just play without an extra jam probably keep that for regular season.

 

[bert]

I think we may have actually gotten worse going from Martin to green.

While Ullmark from korpisalo is a massive upgrade.

Hopefully that offsets the coaching downgrade.


Different coach. I don’t know if the massive upgrade at goalie is enough to offset the massive downgrade at coach

It's honestly incredible how much stupid shit you say in one day.

They haven't played a regular season game yet.

Ironically were in a Yakemchuk thread where we have pages of your insanely bad evaluation of the prospect and pick as he continues to light it up.

 

[Sting]

That he can hang with NHL players at 18 as a d-man is nothing short of incredible. Truly, the biggest test for a new draftee is to see if you look out of place. He does not. We've got a good one.

As for whether he'll stick I doubt it. I think he needs work on skating/edges to be a good defensive player in this league.

He may actually be our best offensive weapon from the backend though which is saying something.

 

[bert]

Yak attack. Making a case for himself.
What a shot. He blew it past Primeau.
The first Montreal goal he made an error, however our forwards should have been along the wall. But they had blown the zone way too early. They were outside the blueline.

Yeah I mean how could he actually expect 3 nhl players to all blow the zone at once. Terrible give away but I'm sure he was shocked when he looked up.

 

[L'Aveuglette]

I haven't been paying much attention to preseason, but Yakemchuk has to be having the best showing of any 2024 draftee right? Even other team's fans are fawning over him.

 

[frightenedinmatenum2]

The Yak give away looked like a bad bounce off the board. He was trying to get it up the ice. He was getting pressure from both the front and backside, so he tried to move the puck to the only place where there wasn't someone in the lane.

He probably could have dumped it back to Sanderson who then would have had Amadio for support, but you can see why when he checks back to Sanderson he would think that would be the more dangerous play than trying to get it up the ice off the boards. The trajectory of the pass makes no sense, which leads me to believe he either physically made a bad pass, or the board took a weird bounce.

I also don't know the system. Amadio was clearly still back supporting, so it wasn't like all three forwards blew the zone. Whether Amadio was in the right spot, only Travis Green knows.

I haven't been paying much attention to preseason, but Yakemchuk has to be having the best showing of any 2024 draftee right? Even other team's fans are fawning over him.

I try not to get too excited about this stuff when it comes to winning pissing matches against other fanbases over who talked too much crap on draft night, because development isn't linear. People tend to get excited about the players who get somewhere the soonest.

It's nice that he is doing so well because with how our picks have been managed since 2021, we really need something to be excited about. Whether he goes back to Junior after 9 or 39 games, or stays the entire season.

 

[Erik Alfredsson]

I think what's especially exciting about Yakemchuk's performance this preseason, is that he was drafted as a raw prospect. I think the feeling when the pick was made was that he had tremendous upside, but had a lot of work to do before he could reach it. The fact that he already looks as good as he has has been a surprise for everyone, and it says that maybe he isn't as far as everyone suspected.

Even if he doesn't make the team hopefully this preseason give him a huge confidence boost he can take into this next year of development.

 

[Agent Zuuuub]

His confidence is insane for an 18 year old. Karlsson like.

Believes in himself and his skill level and isn't afraid to show it.

That goal was nice but jeez that play where he walked two Habs to almost make it to the net from the point!

 

[OD99]

Yeah I mean how could he actually expect 3 nhl players to all blow the zone at once. Terrible give away but I'm sure he was shocked when he looked up.

The puck deflected off the ref.

If the ref isn't there, he rims it around the boards and out of the zone. Even if Evans picks it off, it is a tough one against the boards and he isn't walking into one.

Even prior to that, Ullmark was clearing it and it went off the ref to cause the chaos.

Later, the ref got in Jensens way leading to an Evens breakaway.

Preseason for everyone!

 

[frightenedinmatenum2]

I think what's especially exciting about Yakemchuk's performance this preseason, is that he was drafted as a raw prospect. I think the feeling when the pick was made was that he had tremendous upside, but had a lot of work to do before he could reach it. The fact that he already looks as good as he has has been a surprise for everyone, and it says that maybe he isn't as far as everyone suspected.

Even if he doesn't make the team hopefully this preseason give him a huge confidence boost he can take into this next year of development.

I think he has made the team, and now it's just a matter of determining when to pull him out to prioritize his development.

It feels like he is going to put them in a very tough spot when it comes to not wanting to rush him. Especially with the makeup of our bottom end of the defense, and Zub seeming banged up. If it turns out that he can continue to contribute like this during actual regular season hockey, they are going to have a hard time keeping it at 9 games. Especially with the pressure this team has to make the playoffs.

I could see him pushing things to the point where 39 games becomes the real choke point. They can buy a bit of time by sending him to the World Junior tournament. By January, they will know what this team is in relation to the playoffs. That is roughly when he would approach 39 games.

(A reminder, while 9 games burns a year from the ELC, it doesn't burn one of his 7 RFA years he owes the team before he turns 27. If he plays 40 games, it does, and he only owes the team 6 more RFA years before he becomes unrestricted.)

I'm not suggesting they will ruin his development over making the playoffs, but if they are on the fence about a full regular season being something he can handle, and he is helping them win games in a tight race, I'm suggesting that might be the tipping point about keeping him over 39 games.

Now he could make the team and a few games in look overmatched and this post becomes malarkey. But he seems like the kind of player who is going to keep surprising us.

 

[Hale The Villain]

The pass to no one was bad but he more than made up for it by utilizing his shot to generate offense.

He's looking very impressive. Much more polished than I expected after watching him a dozen games last season.

 

[PlayersLtd]

One thing about Yak is that we haven't seen him out there when the team is getting caved in their own end and I'm not saying that because of strong D, it just hasn't happened yet. The best lineup he faced was Toronto and they played ten good minutes on offence.

In the regular season lineups will be better and minutes will be tougher. The team will find themselves running around in our end and how Yak handles the inevitable chaos will be the true test.

 

[yzerman]

A hybrid between Karlsson and Chris Pronger not bad hoping he gets the 9 games in NHL this season.

Is this like Kevin Korchinski situation was for the blackhawks last fall if he should play or not in the NHL?

 

[Burrowsaurus]

It's honestly incredible how much stupid shit you say in one day.

They haven't played a regular season game yet.

Ironically were in a Yakemchuk thread where we have pages of your insanely bad evaluation of the prospect and pick as he continues to light it up.

I said “I think”. It’s a prediction.

I make them. And then if I’m wrong I say I’m wrong.

Some people don’t do that.

 

[Tuna99]

Ostapchuk might be our best defenceman in the offensive zone, he’s certainly top 2, he’s better then Chabot is at creating offence in zone and certainly better at finishing.