RD Carter Yakemchuk - Calgary Hitmen, WHL (2024, 7th, OTT)
- Thread starter Artorius Horus T
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HFBoards is well aware that today is election day in the US. We ask respectfully to focus on hockey and not politics.
IMO, fixing defense against line rushes is easily fixable. Where offensively inclined Dmen get in trouble is that they often try to steal pucks and start a rush the other way, which works because their talent is so much better than those that they are playing against. All coaches have to do is emphasize that the main thing to do is defend the rush, and let the transition take care of itself. Yak has the reach and heft to be able to angle out most players, and a good or better stick if he puts his mind to using it for defending.
Bottom line is that he will be fine, especially if the Sens help him work on this aspect of his game. Working on his transitions should also help his puck retrievals, allowing him to get to pucks quicker and use his considerable Puck moving skills to get the puck out of his zone. His D zone coverage is effective, competitive, and fierce. That's a nice thing to have. Some D men just never have that aspect in their game.
For him, it's really about keeping it simple, and not trying to do too much.
I was hoping that MN would get a shot at Yak at #13. A big, mean'ish, skilled, RHD is hard not to like. I think his defensive faults are overblown, and part of what you get with an offensively minded, creative player. They simply take more risks than average players who are afraid to make mistakes.
Bottom line is that he will be fine, especially if the Sens help him work on this aspect of his game. Working on his transitions should also help his puck retrievals, allowing him to get to pucks quicker and use his considerable Puck moving skills to get the puck out of his zone. His D zone coverage is effective, competitive, and fierce. That's a nice thing to have. Some D men just never have that aspect in their game.
For him, it's really about keeping it simple, and not trying to do too much.
I was hoping that MN would get a shot at Yak at #13. A big, mean'ish, skilled, RHD is hard not to like. I think his defensive faults are overblown, and part of what you get with an offensively minded, creative player. They simply take more risks than average players who are afraid to make mistakes.
This player reminds me of Dustin Byfuglien. Prime years Dustin is what I can see as projection and potential upside for him... and I understand why Ottawa took him instead of the other defencemen available. They went for the high risk, high reward option. I would have prefered Anton Silayev the supposedly next Chara, but Russian factor is there and Ottawa doesn't draft many kids straight out of Russia.
HarrySPlinkett
Not a film critic
Because they passed on Parekh to take him.
It’s tough to sell “better Dion Phaneuf” when the other guy compares favourably to Erik Karlsson.
Especially to a fanbase that already had Erik Karlsson.
Don’t get me wrong - Dion Phaneuf before his hip fracture was a helluva player, and if Yakemchuk can avoid major leg injuries that rob him of his explosiveness, he should be a fine player.
Staios is getting a Christmas card from me this year, I can tell you that much.
CanadienShark
Registered User
- Dec 18, 2012
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He's one that seems like a boom or bust to me. If he booms, yikes will the Sens have a stacked d-core. I'm not sure if it's best to pair him with Sanderson or spread the wealth.
CornerStone61
Registered User
- Apr 13, 2015
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If we're talking about explosiveness here, Parekh does not have near the explosiveness that Karlsson had.
HarrySPlinkett
Not a film critic
Not in a straight line that’s for sure.
The way he changes directions, goes side to side, handles the puck, it’s all very EK.
By the eye test, he looks like he plays like all the best modern defenceman do.
I’m not here to slag Ottawa’s selection because it got Calgary Their best prospect in 15 years.
I can just completely understand where fans would be livid.
Senscore
Let's keep it cold
- Nov 19, 2012
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Sting
Registered User
- Feb 8, 2004
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All due respect - the likelihood of Parekh ever coming close to the level EK was at is absurdly low. In recent memory, I can only say Makar has come close to that. Even then, pre-slice EK was something this league had not seen from a d-man in a long, long time.
The NHL of today has shown the best teams have strong two-way defenders. You don't often see cup contenders with one-dimensional defenders leading the way.
Parekh has a lot of upside but I doubt he ever got much strong consideration over a guy like Yakemchuk when you are projecting players 4-5 years out against players in the NHL.
Sun God Nika
Palestine 🇵🇸
Ottawa fan here. I am not livid, I like the pick but my initial reaction was to be bummed when Parekh was left on the board the sens also have a history of picking players earlier than they are ranked so it kind of also piled onto that.
Juxtaposer
Outro: Divina Comedia
Yakemchuk has a lot of attractive tools but his skating mechanics are ugly as hell. His top speed is pretty solid but the four-way mobility is not good, the transition from forwards to backwards skating involves this crazy wide cut that allows defenders to blow by him, and he doesn’t have the finesse to defend truly skilled forwards. I really like the upside though, hopefully he can overcome these issues.
KnuckChuckinTkachuk
Give'yer balls a tug
- Jan 23, 2011
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Juxtaposer
Outro: Divina Comedia
I think Sanderson is definitely a pretty ideal partner for Yakemchuk. But I really can’t emphasize how ugly the skating mechanics are, it’s going to take a lot to overcome it. It’s not easy to reinvent someone’s skating mechanics at 19 years old.
teravaineSAROS
Registered User
- Jul 29, 2015
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I understand Parekh's exciting but when it comes to the playoffs a future first pairing of Sanderson and Yakemchuk sounds terrifying.
stempniaksen
Registered User
- Oct 12, 2008
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Dave Poulin (Sens Senior Vice-President of Hockey Operations) was asked on Ottawa radio to talk about Yakemchuk post draft and the first thing he brought up was elite skating for his size (called him one of the elite skaters in the draft).
Everything else he/Staois have said seem to match what I've read in this thread and through the various scouting reports, but that caught me off guard as skating is something that has been specifically pointed to as a weakness in his game.
Not sure why there seems to be a such discrepancy between Sens management view and what is/has been posted here and elsewhere, but it does make sense why he was their pick at #7 if they like his skating on top of everything else he brings to the table.
Everything else he/Staois have said seem to match what I've read in this thread and through the various scouting reports, but that caught me off guard as skating is something that has been specifically pointed to as a weakness in his game.
Not sure why there seems to be a such discrepancy between Sens management view and what is/has been posted here and elsewhere, but it does make sense why he was their pick at #7 if they like his skating on top of everything else he brings to the table.
Parekh doesn’t have the skating ability of Karlsson. Mike Green is a better comparison for Parekh. Still a very good prospect and would have been a good pick at 7 but let’s not pretend Parekh is the 2nd coming of Karlsson
HarrySPlinkett
Not a film critic
I don’t think he’s quite Karlsson either, but I think Mike Green is selling him short.
I see him as our Quinn Hughes. He’s gonna have the puck on his stick the entire game, and the whole offense is gonna run through him.
Huberdeau is also gonna love him - he’s the exact sort of “hit the trailer” weapon they’ve been missing.
I’m not sure where Parekh’s skating plateaus, but to me if he moves as well as he does at 18, there’s no sense capping how good he’ll have gotten by 25.
Juxtaposer
Outro: Divina Comedia
If it were that easy to fix significant skating mechanics easily, then why do bad skaters exist in the NHL?
HarrySPlinkett
Not a film critic
Hockey sense. You should’ve seen Tavares’s skating in junior - guy looked like a baby moose on skates.
Look at him now.
“Lots of guys go to the wrong places quickly - I go to the right places.” - Jaromir Jagr.
Juxtaposer
Outro: Divina Comedia
bert
Registered User
They arent nearly as bad as you are describing. You are going way over board.
Golden_Jet
Registered User
- Sep 21, 2005
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Friend didn’t see that at development camp, you’re putting out a lot of hyperbole, I think.
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It's overblown. His skating stride isn't the cleanest but if you look at his speed and movement (like laterals), he's above average compared to other players in the draft. Yakemchuk is not "slow" and he gets around the ice just fine. He did get multiple breakaways this year from his zone purely by being faster than the other team's dmen.
He has no top speed issue. He does have great lateral mobility once he's in motion. You really shouldn't ignore the first three steps back though, that's really the entire skating issue defensively. Focus on that.
He's fast, what you get from refinements to his noisy forward skating is that he'll save a lot more energy. Fix that so that he'll be able to play 20+ minutes without getting fatigued/stupid.
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