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

[ottawah]

My brain can't parse how the player I saw lighting up our NHL camp didn't make the wjc.

Buddy Robinson says Hi.

Maybe, just maybe, the pre season is so far divorced from a real hockey game it only matters so much. Vets do not need to try, young guns are working their butts off, some players are working themselves into game shape, a lot take it half seriously.

 

[Icelevel]

Team Canada brass is a bunch of morons. But I knew that anyway the moment they chose Cameron as HC

Dave Cameron is one of the most overrated coaches in hockey. How he gets his opportunities is beyond me.
Like you say I guess…..morons.

 

[Burrowsaurus]

As long as he's doing those things less in an attempt to focus on rounding out his game by working on some flaws then I have no problem with it. I'm sure the Sens development staff gave him feedback on what they'd like to see him improve on, and his dedication to that is a very important thing.

To still have solid production while focusing on his development first is a promising thing in my opinion.

True. I honestly don’t know how his defensive game has looked this year. Unfortunately they don’t really have highlights for that sort of thing

 

[PlayOn]

True. I honestly don’t know how his defensive game has looked this year. Unfortunately they don’t really have highlights for that sort of thing

Staios was praising him for it in his interview a few weeks ago. Said he’s really improved and talked about how they were impressed with how quickly he’d process feedback he was given at camp and make adjustments.

 

[Wondercarrot]

It especially sucks for Yakemchuk that he is in his last year of eligibility and it sucks Sens fans won't get to see him at the event in their back yard. I'm sure leaving him off was not an easy decision.

I don’t know…seems like it was an easy decision given they didn’t even invite him to camp.
So weird.

 

[BondraTime]

I don’t know…seems like it was an easy decision given they didn’t even invite him to camp.
So weird.

It became easy(ier) when it seems they had their PP set with a guy they were going to be playing in every situation already with Dickinson, and then Molendyk.

The need for a guy on PP specalist duty went down the drain since Dickinson has been on a tear with 18 PP points and 45 points overall. A few days of practices among invitees isn't going to change that going into the tournament.

Then the extra spot seems like it may have been grabed by another very stong offensive guy in 17 year old Schaefer, who provides more elsewhere at this point in time

Like Pronman said, they don't trust him defensively, so if he isn't going to be their PP specailist, there is no need in bringing him in their eyes; whether that's wise remains to be seen

Only 6 of the 13 D invited to the Summer camp were in the 10 invited to the December camp. It seems that HC didn't like what they saw in conjunction with that camp and the play of those guys this year in their respective leagues.

Akey, Allen, Schaefer and Brunicke were not invited to the summer camp. Apparently, their play in the OHL and WHL has earned them the nod over the others, which I'm not sure I agree with in total. Schaefer and Brunicke I undersatnd, the other two not so much, though obviously I'm not exactly well informed on them

The forwards invited on the other hand, were all at the summer camp (or unable to make it because they were playing at the U18 like McKenna). It seems they were not too pleased with many of the D they had invited this summer compared to the forwards

Likewise with the goalies. All the same guys at the summer camp are at the Dec camp

 

[Gil Gunderson]

Not really great to hear pronman say Yakemchuk isn’t playing like he thought given he was obsessed with him last year.


And I mean all his goals are just pp bombs and a lot of his assists are simple passes.

He looked more exciting last year.

How are the Hitmen looking? Maybe a trade to top team allows him to be more dynamic later on the season.

I was hoping we'd take Dickenson after Utah took Iginla. He's having a monster season.

 

[BondraTime]

How are the Hitmen looking? Maybe a trade to top team allows him to be more dynamic later on the season.

I was hoping we'd take Dickenson after Utah took Iginla. He's having a monster season.

They are going all in, won't be trading Yak. Just traded away a kid projected for late 1st + this season for Tanner Howe, who will miss the next month with the WJ team.

They are a middle pack team. In the much weaker conference so that will help, but would not be surprising to see them bow out in the 1st round against a team like Red Deer or Lethbridge

Everett is an absolute powerhouse now and the next few years, thanks in part to the Zellweger trade 2 years ago. The fact that their best player is a 15 year old future 1st overall that they have for the next 2 years is wild.

 

[PlayOn]

 

[Sens of Anarchy]

Mike Grier is pretty happy

Drafts have a healthy spoonful of projection over a longer term than 6 months

Not everyone values the same things as strongly .. Offense vs Defense... Size, Pims etc.
In a small sample here he was very good and I am sure the Sens brass love their guy

 

[Hale The Villain]

My brain can't parse how the player I saw lighting up our NHL camp didn't make the wjc.

All I know is Yakemchuk was very impressive playing against men but for whatever reason every time I've seen him play against kids his own age he's been underwhelming, whether playing for the Hitmen, Team Canada at the U18s/Summer Showcase, the Sens team at the prospect tournament, etc...

Super weird.

 

[PlayOn]

Why is there such a gap between Staios’ perception and others’? He feels Yak is having a tremendous season, many say he’s not been as good as expected.

 

[DackellDuck]

Why is there such a gap between Staios’ perception and others’? He feels Yak is having a tremendous season, many say he’s not been as good as expected.

I’d assume the team gave him specific things to work on that will help him be a pro player, and Staios is evaluating his play through that lens.

The online scouts look at his stats, see they’re similar to last year, and say “no improvement!”.

 

[Hale The Villain]

It's not just the Yakemchuk cut that was headscratching.

After a slow start coming back from a bad injury Sennecke has produced at almost a 2.0 PPG pace for the last 17 games.

Misa is the top producing player in the OHL and he plays hard. There should have been a spot for him on any line.

And no doubt guys like Iginla, Hage and Greentree are better than some of the players taken as well.

Team Canada loves to overthink things and shoot themselves in the foot.

 

[Sens of Anarchy]

I’d assume the team gave him specific things to work on that will help him be a pro player, and Staios is evaluating his play through that lens.

The online scouts look at his stats, see they’re similar to last year, and say “no improvement!”.

Can you comment on his improvements? I am sure there are some. Team Canada is not an online scouting service.. They knew what they wanted when they veered away from Parekh (CHL D of the year) and Yakemchuk

Dave Poulin called him an elite skater after the draft. Sens mgt are going to stick up for their guy

 

[Sens of Anarchy]

It's not just the Yakemchuk cut that was headscratching.

After a slow start coming back from a bad injury Sennecke has produced at almost a 2.0 PPG pace for the last 17 games.

Misa is the top producing player in the OHL and he plays hard. There should have been a spot for him on any line.

And no doubt guys like Iginla, Hage and Greentree are better than some of the players taken as well.

Team Canada loves to overthink things and shoot themselves in the foot.

Sennecke and Misa are two I thought would be there... You could probably make a forward line left off that could be as good or better than any line on the team.

The D choices I understand. And if they were to take a PP specialist it still may not have been Yak

 

[DJB]

Inviting 4th liners and 3rd pairing CHL’ers to Hockey Canada camp is mystifying to me.

They love to try and outsmart themselves frequently

 

[BondraTime]

Why is there such a gap between Staios’ perception and others’? He feels Yak is having a tremendous season, many say he’s not been as good as expected.

Same reason we heard Boucher was excellent and doing great, our MGMT are always going to be pleased and glowing about our guys, as they should generally.

We had Poulin come out and say his skating was elite. That's just very clearly untrue.

Yak is perfectly fine, he's got his warts, but those were known before the draft and his development in those areas were more than a few months away from being fixed. Those warts are also something that hinders in a 2 week tournament compared to a 3 year developmental path.

 

[Micklebot]

Buddy Robinson says Hi.

Maybe, just maybe, the pre season is so far divorced from a real hockey game it only matters so much. Vets do not need to try, young guns are working their butts off, some players are working themselves into game shape, a lot take it half seriously.

When did Buddy Robinson light up training camp? I just looked at preseason totals, and he has one year with 3 pts in 4 games with Cgy, but was 26 yrs old by that point.

I don't think he was even eligible for the WJC when he played in his first NHL preseason game, he would have been 22 by the time the world juniors rolled around after signing his ELC out of College with us.

Yakumchuk had 7 pts in 4 games as a Dman.

 

[BondraTime]

When did Buddy Robinson light up training camp? I just looked at preseason totals, and he has one year with 3 pts in 4 games with Cgy, but was 26 yrs old by that point.

I don't think he was even eligible for the WJC when he played in his first NHL preseason game, he would have been 22 by the time the world juniors rolled around after signing his ELC out of College with us.

Yakumchuk had 7 pts in 4 games as a Dman.

Probably meant Bochenski, if I were to guess. Only used as a parralel to show that preseason doesn't mean all that much, as they aren't simialar other than having ridiculously productive preaseasons

 

[Senator Stanley]

All I know is Yakemchuk was very impressive playing against men but for whatever reason every time I've seen him play against kids his own age he's been underwhelming, whether playing for the Hitmen, Team Canada at the U18s/Summer Showcase, the Sens team at the prospect tournament, etc...

Super weird.

This is a huge concern of mine. Watching him in the WHL, he shows the same flashes of brilliance that got everyone excited during training camp, but a lot of the time in these games he looks disengaged and uninterested out there, which leads to sloppy mistakes and getting caught flat footed. The guy should be a presence shift in, shift out. He has that ability. But I've watched a few of his WHL games this season and I've yet to see that from him.

I worry that our scouts fell for the "he hits and fights, therefore he's intense and hard to play against" fallacy again.

 

[Agent Zuuuub]

This is a huge concern of mine. Watching him in the WHL, he shows the same flashes of brilliance that got everyone excited during training camp, but a lot of the time in these games he looks disengaged and uninterested out there, which leads to sloppy mistakes and getting caught flat footed. The guy should be a presence shift in, shift out. He has that ability. But I've watched a few of his WHL games this season and I've yet to see that from him.

I worry that our scouts fell for the "he hits and fights, therefore he's intense and hard to play against" fallacy again.

no yakemchuk actually has top end hockey sense.

 

[BondraTime]

no yakemchuk actually has top end hockey sense.

That doesn't have much to do with hockey sense, though that was one of the issues most scouts had with him, which they thought led to so many of the breakdowns and mistakes

He's unbelievable offensively, elsewhere hes a work in progress where he gets himself into trouble with mental mistakes. Working on that over the next 2 years along with his skating is priority for him to become a big time guy.

 

[Senator Stanley]

no yakemchuk actually has top end hockey sense.

I didn't say anything about his hockey sense.

Tyler Boucher is a player who I think lacks hockey sense. He has all the tools and accomplishes nothing with them. Unlike Boucher, Yakemchuk makes things happen out there, but for some variety of reasons it comes and goes.

 

[Agent Zuuuub]

I didn't say anything about his hockey sense.

if someone has top end hockey sense the other stuff is all the plus.

like they probably/should went Yakemchuk has top end hockey sense + he has the size + he hits + he is nasty.

the hockey sense is what will make yak hard to play against and the other stuff will make him more of a pain to play against. im fine with that approach.