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

[Alex1234]

Most NHLers have some defensive issues, if you watch games.

Even Makar had some ugly ugly defensive games lately

 

[RAFI BOMB]

https://x.com/i/web/status/1849424382763884879

 

[PlayersLtd]

All his fights.

Carter Yakemchuk () | HockeyFights

Carter Yakemchuk ()

www.hockeyfights.com

 

[DrEasy]

https://x.com/i/web/status/1849424382763884879

Good, I was so worried that he would not get enough PIMs!

 

[SensFactor]

Yak is a beast. Hes gonna be something special.

 

[BUCKLE UP]

https://x.com/i/web/status/1849424382763884879

Clown of a commentator

 

[Burrowsaurus]

All defensemen have some defensive issues otherwise all games would be 1-0 shootouts.

Well all defensive prospects certainly do.

Sanderson and power were probably the last two d prospects with good defense. Dahlia before them?

 

[Sens in Process]

I have watched a lot of top CHL defensemen over the last couple of years. They all have their moments where they can look absolutley horrible, plagued by catastrophic blunders and misreads. This even goes for supposed defensive stalwarts. The CHL is a game of mistakes. And by that, I don't mean a slim margin that separates wining and losing. I mean there are a ton of mistakes

I didn't love Yakemchuk's game against Medicine Hat on Wednesday. He didn't have strongest game offensively or defensively. But while playing against Gavin Mckenna, who is fast and dynamic as they come and Hunter St. Martin, an overlooked player with an incredible size/speed combo, he more than held his own. In short, MH is a very fast team - perhaps one of the fastest in the WHL.

The -2 from the game is a bit misleading, because both goals were the result of wicked turnovers by his teammates. On one play, a neutral zone turnover leads Calgary to be caught flat footed, but Yakemchuk still manages to push Mckenna below the goal line. Mckenna's pass deflects off Yakemchuk skate into the net. On the second goal, Yakemchuk makes a beautiful defensive play on St. Martin off the rush. Calgary turns over the puck and Yakemchuk gets caught as the defender in a 2 on 1, He rightfully takes away the pass, but the shooter scores: Western Hockey League

I hear all the complaining by Sens fans how Hamonic is dragging down Sanderson's play, pointing to the underlying numbers. Magnify this by about four-fold for Yakemchuk. Yakemchuk's partner is a just turned 17year old pint sized defenseman who has limited offense. He is algorithmically programed in the offensive zone to rim the puck around the boards or take a low percentage shot. It was so bad in one game the announcers were wondering why he wasn't electing to pass the puck to his 30 goal defensive partner.

In my opinion, I think Yakemchuk has taken major strides in his defensive game this season. His length, anticipation, improved skating and his willing to box out and protect the net will make him a good defender at the next level. Despite what a lot people said, I really can't stress enough how well he reads the game. We saw that a bit in the NHL pre-season, but he has an "it" factor, where the puck follows him around.

 

[Dionysus]

I have watched a lot of top CHL defensemen over the last couple of years. They all have their moments where they can look absolutley horrible, plagued by catastrophic blunders and misreads. This even goes for supposed defensive stalwarts. The CHL is a game of mistakes. And by that, I don't mean a slim margin that separates wining and losing. I mean there are a ton of mistakes

I didn't love Yakemchuk's game against Medicine Hat on Wednesday. He didn't have strongest game offensively or defensively. But while playing against Gavin Mckenna, who is fast and dynamic as they come and Hunter St. Martin, an overlooked player with an incredible size/speed combo, he more than held his own. In short, MH is a very fast team - perhaps one of the fastest in the WHL.

The -2 from the game is a bit misleading, because both goals were the result of wicked turnovers by his teammates. On one play, a neutral zone turnover leads Calgary to be caught flat footed, but Yakemchuk still manages to push Mckenna below the goal line. Mckenna's pass deflects off Yakemchuk skate into the net. On the second goal, Yakemchuk makes a beautiful defensive play on St. Martin off the rush. Calgary turns over the puck and Yakemchuk gets caught as the defender in a 2 on 1, He rightfully takes away the pass, but the shooter scores: Western Hockey League

I hear all the complaining by Sens fans how Hamonic is dragging down Sanderson's play, pointing to the underlying numbers. Magnify this by about four-fold for Yakemchuk. Yakemchuk's partner is a just turned 17year old pint sized defenseman who has limited offense. He is algorithmically programed in the offensive zone to rim the puck around the boards or take a low percentage shot. It was so bad in one game the announcers were wondering why he wasn't electing to pass the puck to his 30 goal defensive partner.

In my opinion, I think Yakemchuk has taken major strides in his defensive game this season. His length, anticipation, improved skating and his willing to box out and protect the net will make him a good defender at the next level. Despite what a lot people said, I really can't stress enough how well he reads the game. We saw that a bit in the NHL pre-season, but he has an "it" factor, where the puck follows him around.

Appreciate your insight in following Calgary Hitmen games!

Interested to see how Yak progresses this season.

 

[aragorn]

Yak is a beast. Hes gonna be something special.

I think so too, like Tkachuk on defence which is exactly what we need.

 

[sena]

I have watched a lot of top CHL defensemen over the last couple of years. They all have their moments where they can look absolutley horrible, plagued by catastrophic blunders and misreads. This even goes for supposed defensive stalwarts. The CHL is a game of mistakes. And by that, I don't mean a slim margin that separates wining and losing. I mean there are a ton of mistakes

I didn't love Yakemchuk's game against Medicine Hat on Wednesday. He didn't have strongest game offensively or defensively. But while playing against Gavin Mckenna, who is fast and dynamic as they come and Hunter St. Martin, an overlooked player with an incredible size/speed combo, he more than held his own. In short, MH is a very fast team - perhaps one of the fastest in the WHL.

The -2 from the game is a bit misleading, because both goals were the result of wicked turnovers by his teammates. On one play, a neutral zone turnover leads Calgary to be caught flat footed, but Yakemchuk still manages to push Mckenna below the goal line. Mckenna's pass deflects off Yakemchuk skate into the net. On the second goal, Yakemchuk makes a beautiful defensive play on St. Martin off the rush. Calgary turns over the puck and Yakemchuk gets caught as the defender in a 2 on 1, He rightfully takes away the pass, but the shooter scores: Western Hockey League

I hear all the complaining by Sens fans how Hamonic is dragging down Sanderson's play, pointing to the underlying numbers. Magnify this by about four-fold for Yakemchuk. Yakemchuk's partner is a just turned 17year old pint sized defenseman who has limited offense. He is algorithmically programed in the offensive zone to rim the puck around the boards or take a low percentage shot. It was so bad in one game the announcers were wondering why he wasn't electing to pass the puck to his 30 goal defensive partner.

In my opinion, I think Yakemchuk has taken major strides in his defensive game this season. His length, anticipation, improved skating and his willing to box out and protect the net will make him a good defender at the next level. Despite what a lot people said, I really can't stress enough how well he reads the game. We saw that a bit in the NHL pre-season, but he has an "it" factor, where the puck follows him around.

when he is the last guy back into the zone after the goal is scored it's hard to blame his partner

 

[Burrowsaurus]

No points tonight on five goals? Did he get suspended for the late night shit last game?

 

[Adrianopolous]

We need him

 

[Micklebot]

We need him

our D has been fine, we need him to be developed properly,

 

[L'Aveuglette]

We need him

Are you actively trying to make the worst posts possible?

 

[Icelevel]

Despite a slow start he’s a goal behind being on pace to improve on all stats from last year (goals, assists, points, +/-, less pims)

 

[BondraTime]

Despite a slow start he’s a goal behind being on pace to improve on all stats from last year (goals, assists, points, +/-, less pims)

+/- would be projected to be much lower at -21, though obviously you can't pro rate a +/- with much/any certainty

Right now it would be 28g(-2) 45a(+4) 73p(+2) -21(-15) 95PIMs(-25) if he plays the same 66 games as last season. Like you said, a game with points/no points would effect the projections quite drastically with so few games.

My shot in the dark guess is he ends up ~30g 45a -5 100PIMS

 

[BondraTime]

Wouldn't be surprised if he was traded soon, Hitmen have added two RD in the past day

They are either going for it, which I don't think is too smart as they aren't a top team in a position, their cycle is probably 2 years away; or they are going to get a big package of picks and players for an expiring player, which seems to be the wise choice

They added an 18 year old BCHL guy who was a top 3 round prospect in the WHL 4 years ago, and added an overage guy in Kalem Parker for a 2nd, 3rd and 7th, which is something you'd do if you were looking to compete, but may just be to offset a loss of Yak who will bring back a package like Ostapchuk did (three 1st's, 4 players).

 

[Good in Osgoode]

Wouldn't be surprised if he was traded soon, Hitmen have added two RD in the past day

They are either going for it, which I don't think is too smart as they aren't a top team in a position, their cycle is probably 2 years away; or they are going to get a big package of picks and players for an expiring player, which seems to be the wise choice

They added an 18 year old BCHL guy who was a top 3 round prospect in the WHL 4 years ago, and added an overage guy in Kalem Parker for a 2nd, 3rd and 7th, which is something you'd do if you were looking to compete, but may just be to offset a loss of Yak who will bring back a package like Ostapchuk did (three 1st's, 4 players).

I took the addition of overager Kalem Parker as an indication that they were going for it.
Not sure why they wouldn't?

They are winning games and are now 3 games over .500, they sit tied for 4th in the Eastern Conference and just 4 points back of Saskatoon for 1st place in the Conference. At this point, I would be very surprised to see them trade Yak.

 

[BondraTime]

I took the addition of overager Kalem Parker as an indication that they were going for it.
Not sure why they wouldn't?

They are winning games and are now 3 games over .500, they sit tied for 4th in the Eastern Conference and just 4 points back of Saskatoon for 1st place in the Conference. At this point, I would be very surprised to see them trade Yak.

Because they are at best a middling team, and Junior teams need to make the pertinent decisions year in and year out with guys aging out. Are they a contender? Not likely, not close really.

Yakemchuk has zero chance of returning next year. Is a run with him, where they are at best a 5th/6th place team in their conference, more valuable than the 4 young players and 3/4 1st round picks? Assuredly not.

Giants were in the same kind of boat. They weren’t a terrible team, they were over 500 at the time of the trade, but it made no sense to hang on to Ostapchuk and hope to win a series instead of trading him for the return they got that will push them to their mem cup cycle in 2/3 years (three 1st’s, a 2nd and 4 players). They also traded for an Overager in November that seasons on Dylan Anderson

They should be looking to compete with their core of 2022 (17 year olds), 2023, (16 year olds), 2024, 15 year olds, and 2025 draft picks (would have ~4 with a trade of Yak) in 2 and 3 years time.

10 wins in 21 games isn’t a indication of a team that should be going for it. In order for them to have a possible Mem cup team in the next few years you need to trade Yak and get the huge futures package. Their team isn’t at the winning point of their cycle.

 

[SensFanInMTL]

I cannot wait to pick up his jersey.