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

Senator Stanley

Registered User
Dec 11, 2003
8,114
2,527
Visit site
I'm not totally shocked by Yakemchuk being left out, but he and Parekh both not being there is pretty surprising. In the summer it felt like those two could end up fighting for the same spot, even if it was just as the 7th defenceman.

I think Yakemchuk was hurt by a number of factors. First and most importantly, he wasn't good enough in the summer showcase, where he really needed to stake his claim to a spot. Add in the fact that Sam Dickinson has been absolutely dominant in the OHL, and has basically stolen a PP spot with his play. And add in the fact that Schaefer has really emerged and likely is the new front runner for the 7th defenceman slot. And finally, add in the fact that Yakemchuk has never been seen by Hockey Canada as a top guy in his age group (whereas guys like Cam Allen and Caden Price have been), and Hockey Canada historically likes its pets, making him an underdog to begin with.

Since August he's been not very good at the Hockey Canada camp, he's been fine in the WHL, and he's been - relative to expectations - great in an NHL camp. Evidently, that's not good enough.
 
Last edited:

Sens of Anarchy

Registered User
Jul 9, 2013
67,347
53,128

Who runs Canada’s power play(s) now?

Pronman: The decision to cut Parekh and Yakemchuk will be questioned if Canada’s power play struggles in the big games. Tanner Molendyk, Oliver Bonk, Dickinson and Schaefer are all very talented offensive players, and they are better two-way players. I would not call them true PP1 types for a typical Canada team. I probably would have brought one of Parekh or Yakemchuk and played them in a specialist role.

Bultman: You can make a case that Parekh and Yakemchuk are the best pure offensive D in Canada’s player pool, so leaving them off has to be seen as a major vote of confidence in players like Schaefer, Molendyk and Dickinson (who, to his credit, is outscoring Parekh by a wide margin so far this year). With Dickinson’s two-way profile, though, it felt like this team could take him in a prominent role and still have room for a prototypical power-play QB somewhere else in the lineup.

Certainly, there are multiple players in this group that can run a power play, though — and maybe that ends up being Schaefer, who has been great to start the season in Erie.


Wheeler: Molendyk, Dickinson and Schaefer are the natural candidates to run Canada’s power plays now, no question, but I think there’s also a scenario where Bonk plays his bumper role from London (they used him a little there even last year) and they have two D on one of the units (likely the second).
 

BondraTime

Registered User
Nov 20, 2005
29,799
25,495
East Coast
They have an interview with Staios from 2 weeks ago after their initial projected roster where the Athletic left Yak off, saying Canada would be calling Ottawa begging to release Yak for the WJ’s if they kept him and that he doesn’t see how he’s not top pairing every situation on the WJ team.

Have to be extremely, extremely disappointed he’s not even at their 10 camp invites.

Pronman, unquestionably the biggest Yak believer, said he hasn’t been as good as one would hope, and scouts still don’t trust him defensively:

“Both are top-10 picks who have been excellent junior defensemen and have dynamic offensive traits. However, both of their first halves haven’t been as good as hoped for, and scouts still have some concerns about how trustworthy they are defensively.”

“I would probably take one of those players, even if in a limited role but ultimately the staff likely felt they couldn’t trust either at even strength.“
 
Last edited:
  • Like
Reactions: Sens of Anarchy

Knave

Registered User
Mar 6, 2007
21,960
2,648
Ottawa
2006 Torino vibes with these camp invites. Not a bad idea to clean up Hockey Canada before the Olympics maybe this tournament will be the impetus. Or who knows, maybe the picks and omissions work out for them.

Regardless for Yakemchuk specifically you hope it lights a fire under him to have more of an overall presence on the ice around things like puck recovery in his own zone, breaking out of the zone, etc...
 
  • Like
Reactions: BigRig4

Senator Stanley

Registered User
Dec 11, 2003
8,114
2,527
Visit site
2006 Torino vibes with these camp invites. Not a bad idea to clean up Hockey Canada before the Olympics maybe this tournament will be the impetus. Or who knows, maybe the picks and omissions work out for them.

Regardless for Yakemchuk specifically you hope it lights a fire under him to have more of an overall presence on the ice around things like puck recovery in his own zone, breaking out of the zone, etc...

They just put Al Murray in charge of the U20 team. This is his first year in the job and he will have it for a while.

 

Ad

Upcoming events

Ad

Ad