RD Carter Yakemchuk - Calgary Hitmen, WHL (2024, 7th, OTT)

[rt]

He’s kinda built like Perry, too. Has the same ugly skating mechanics but it doesn’t hurt his effectiveness even one little bit. He’s got that punch-me face and he completely throws opponents off their game. I’ve seen Cayden Lindstrom come entirely unraveled and abandon all discipline to try to kill Yakemchuk all game long. I’ve seen Yakemchuk have that impact in several games.

 

[Hinterland]

He’s kinda built like Perry, too. Has the same ugly skating mechanics but it doesn’t hurt his effectiveness even one little bit. He’s got that punch-me face and he completely throws opponents off their game. I’ve seen Cayden Lindstrom come entirely unraveled and abandon all discipline to try to kill Yakemchuk all game long. I’ve seen Yakemchuk have that impact in several games.

Doesn't hurt his effectiveness in the WHL. I'm pretty sure it will in the NHL. Question is to which extent. That's the risk you're gonna take if you draft him. Still remains a top5 pick in my book based on upside alone but his floor should be fairly high as well. Don't see him bust completely with all the tools he has.

 

[rt]

Doesn't hurt his effectiveness in the WHL. I'm pretty sure it will in the NHL. Question is to which extent. That's the risk you're gonna take if you draft him. Still remains a top5 pick in my book based on upside alone but his floor should be fairly high as well. Don't see him bust completely with all the tools he has.

His skating is mechanically ugly but he’s pretty slippery and can dance. I don’t personally see it as an issue.

 

[Bubbles]

I completely agree with this comparison stylistically, albeit Yakemchuk is two inches shorter than Burns and isn’t as good a skater. High upside for sure, but he could easily never be top-4. Whoever takes this guy will be betting on his upside as a Burns type of defenseman.

Yeah,, it's his stick handling and puck skills that remind me a lot of Burns. I wonder if Yak played forward when he was younger because he certainly has the hands of one.

 

[Sergei Shirokov]

Man I love this player. Everytime I watch him, he climbs in my ranking.

Agreed. To me he's the most complete of the top Dmen.

Offensively he's right there with Parekh as the best, except he's also pretty good defensively, and he's big, and he's mean, and he likes to hit, and he moves well.

Dickinson is complete too but doesn't have nearly as strong an offensive game, I'd say Yak is closer to him defensively than Dickinson is to Yak offensively.

Yakemchuk has it all

 

[Bubbles]

No points today but he did a masterful job of erasing Gavin McKenna. His job today was to shadow him and he did a great job defensively.

 

[MichaelFarrell]

Honestly, I think picks 20-40 are pretty much in the same tier. I cannot see NHL teams letting this guys slip that far despite some of his rankings.

I don't think it’s clear who will be the first defenseman taken. Buium, Silayev, Dickinson, Levshunov, Parekh, and Yakemchuk all have a strong case imo. It’ll probably come down to team preference but I don’t think you can go wrong with any of them really.

 

[majormajor]

I don't think it’s clear who will be the first defenseman taken. Buium, Silayev, Dickinson, Levshunov, Parekh, and Yakemchuk all have a strong case imo. It’ll probably come down to team preference but I don’t think you can go wrong with any of them really.

Right now I have a big 5 with Yakemchuk, Buium, Dickinson, Silayev, and Levshunov. I think you can go wrong with Parekh.

 

[Hinterland]

Right now I have a big 5 with Yakemchuk, Buium, Dickinson, Silayev, and Levshunov. I think you can go wrong with Parekh.

I think that Yakemchuk should go first just based on upside alone though I must admit that Dickinson is definitely a safer pick and Buium is intriguing as well. The latter is a bit of a weird one though because despite being 05 born he's kind of a late riser. Very toolsy though. I don't think he's gonna go ahead of Yakemchuk or Dickinson but he may very well become a better player. Parekh and Levshunov I have a tier or two behind that trio. First rounders yes but, for very different reasons, not necessarily much more. I'd rather take Silayev or Jiricek, actually maybe even Elick.

 

[majormajor]

I think that Yakemchuk should go first just based on upside alone though I must admit that Dickinson is definitely a safer pick and Buium is intriguing as well. The latter is a bit of a weird one though because despite being 05 born he's kind of a late riser. Very toolsy though. I don't think he's gonna go ahead of Yakemchuk or Dickinson but he may very well become a better player. Parekh and Levshunov I have a tier or two behind that trio. First rounders yes but, for very different reasons, not necessarily much more. I'd rather take Silayev or Jiricek, actually maybe even Elick.

That's kind of similar for me. If I had to pick right now I'd have

Buium
Yakemchuk
Dickinson

Silayev
Levshunov

Jiricek

Parekh

But this is like 2-4 games viewed each at this point. This is very early for me to start making lists, I usually catch up on prospect video in the Spring.

 

[Gliff]

Maybe if you mixed him with Ed Jovanovski or Dion Phaneuf or someone like that. Haha.

Yakemchuk isn’t really a kill you in open ice and then punch your lights out type, though. He’s more of a big nasty pest. The player he honestly reminds me so much of is Corey Perry. If Perry was a D instead of a winger.

Perry is a “D”

 

[Peasy]

I find it hard to see teams letting him go past the top 10 honestly.

This is the kind of D that gm's dream about having.

 

[WeThreeKings]

I find it hard to see teams letting him go past the top 10 honestly.

This is the kind of D that gm's dream about having.

Pronman (who has been nailing the order at the top of the draft recently, testament to how hard he's been grinding since joining The Athletic) sees, and hears, that Yakemchuk will be going top 10 and that he may even go in the top 6.

Pronman said there's a group of 4 defenseman at the top, that being Silayev, Dickinson, Yakemchuk and Levshunov. Talk to a different scout and you'll get a different name. Then believes there will be 6 in the top 10 that go, with the other two being Buium and Parekh.

 

[Peasy]

Pronman (who has been nailing the order at the top of the draft recently, testament to how hard he's been grinding since joining The Athletic) sees, and hears, that Yakemchuk will be going top 10 and that he may even go in the top 6.

Pronman said there's a group of 4 defenseman at the top, that being Silayev, Dickinson, Yakemchuk and Levshunov. Talk to a different scout and you'll get a different name. Then believes there will be 6 in the top 10 that go, with the other two being Buium and Parekh.

Yeah, I'd honestly be a little shocked if it doesnt play out that way on draft day. IIRC HockeyProspects had Yakemchuk I think 3rd on their initial rankings this year, but the most recent one he was found in the teens. I was surprised to see that sudden shift from them for this type of player. Wonder if he ends up shooting back up their final rankings.

Once the playoffs get going, teams will be reminded how valuable a player like Yakemchuk could be then.

 

[57special]

Consensus

I find it hard to see teams letting him go past the top 10 honestly.

This is the kind of D that gm's dream about having.

Thing is, though, that you could say the same about Levshunov, Dickinson, and Silayev. Also, Buium, and especially Parekh, are having eye catching years offensively. Throw in a few forwards like Lindstrom that will also catch GM's eyes because his tools, then guys who are having flat out great years like Celebrini, Catton, and Demidov, and it gets pretty crowded in the top 10.

This seems like it might be an all time great year for Dmen.

Yakemchuk is having a really good offensive year with 60 pts in 58 gp. Parekh has 85 in the same amount of games.

 

[Stewie Griffin]

I think Levshunov, Dickinson, Silayev, and Yakemchuk are locks for the top-10 for defenseman. Add in Celebrini, Demidov, and Lindstrom as locks for forwards.

That leaves 3 spots for guys like Catton, Buium, Eiserman, Parekh, Iginla, etc. As of right now, 8th overall to 16th overall (in terms of draft spots) are seperated by 3 points. Hard to say who will go where until we get a finalized order, but given how many teams in the bottom 10 want RD...Yakemchuk (and Levshunov) will go very high.

 

[57special]

I think Levshunov, Dickinson, Silayev, and Yakemchuk are locks for the top-10 for defenseman. Add in Celebrini, Demidov, and Lindstrom as locks for forwards.

That leaves 3 spots for guys like Catton, Buium, Eiserman, Parekh, Iginla, etc. As of right now, 8th overall to 16th overall (in terms of draft spots) are seperated by 3 points. Hard to say who will go where until we get a finalized order, but given how many teams in the bottom 10 want RD...Yakemchuk (and Levshunov) will go very high.

I think Catton is a lock, and Eiserman would be hard not to take. Then there is Helenius to consider. If, Buium measures over 6' at the combine and scores well on strength tests then he will go high, also.

Parekh is the wild card. For any lottery team, they have to be watching this guy very closely. Hard to say if he will be the next Housley, or a guy who's game will disappear in the pros.

 

[cheechoo]

Pronman (who has been nailing the order at the top of the draft recently, testament to how hard he's been grinding since joining The Athletic) sees, and hears, that Yakemchuk will be going top 10 and that he may even go in the top 6.

Pronman said there's a group of 4 defenseman at the top, that being Silayev, Dickinson, Yakemchuk and Levshunov. Talk to a different scout and you'll get a different name. Then believes there will be 6 in the top 10 that go, with the other two being Buium and Parekh.

Yea this class is absolutely wild at the back.

Silayev is such a wildcard just because of his contract status, but the combination of his size and mobility is special.

Could see evaluators being enamored by Yakemchuk's all around play and his physicality/courageousness + point totals.

Parekh/Levshunov give you the point totals and some concerns in other areas of their games.

Dickinson is for the people that like a little bit of everything. Huge shot, great skater, strong on both sides of the puck.

Buium to me is the starman of the pack. Gaudy eye watering numbers, elite in the offensive zone, good size / not afraid to throw his body around.

Really shaping up to be a 2003-lite type of year that produced Suter, Phaneuf, Seabrook, Weber, Burns etc.

 

[57special]

Yea this class is absolutely wild at the back.

Silayev is such a wildcard just because of his contract status, but the combination of his size and mobility is special.

Could see evaluators being enamored by Yakemchuk's all around play and his physicality/courageousness + point totals.

Parekh/Levshunov give you the point totals and some concerns in other areas of their games.

Dickinson is for the people that like a little bit of everything. Huge shot, great skater, strong on both sides of the puck.

Buium to me is the starman of the pack. Gaudy eye watering numbers, elite in the offensive zone, good size / not afraid to throw his body around.

Really shaping up to be a 2003-lite type of year that produced Suter, Phaneuf, Seabrook, Weber, Burns etc.

But with Buium, you wonder if his stats are not inflated by the team around him... you can say the same about Parekh, except his production is so crazy that you just shrug your shoulders at a certain point. He'll get 100 points as a Dman.

 

[cheechoo]

But with Buium, you wonder if his stats are not inflated by the team around him... you can say the same about Parekh, except his production is so crazy that you just shrug your shoulders at a certain point. He'll get 100 points as a Dman.

Right. It has to make you furrow your brow a little bit. Buium's numbers this year are pretty much historically blowing out everyone else's not named Celebrini/Eichel/Fantilli out of the water.

Lapping other elite DY college freshman like Q Hughes or that loaded Michigan class with Beniers/Power/Johnson etc.

Buium's tape is so fun to watch though so it helped me eliminate some concern. He's the total package in the offensive zone. His vision, silky stickhandling and confidence is really impressive. He's constantly running the attack for Denver and setting guys up for tap-ins or getting his shot through from the point.

Skating is a whole other discussion, not as gifted as some of the other guys, but he's nifty and knows how to exploit space. He likes to hit guys in the neutral zone. Another positive for him was that he made the USA team for the WJC as a draft eligible player, which is top plaudits.

Anyways not to derail so much, but I'm super excited to see how things progress further for all of these guys.

 

[Pavel Buchnevich]

But with Buium, you wonder if his stats are not inflated by the team around him... you can say the same about Parekh, except his production is so crazy that you just shrug your shoulders at a certain point. He'll get 100 points as a Dman.

Buium’s stats aren’t as numerous because he’s playing against better competition, but are as historic or more.

 

[57special]

Buium’s stats aren’t as numerous because he’s playing against better competition, but are as historic or more.

Parekh leads his team in scoring by 16 pts. Buium is 3rd in scoring on his team.

 

[Pavel Buchnevich]

Parekh leads his team in scoring by 16 pts. Buium is 3rd in scoring on his team.

I see your point about Buium being a slight product of his team. I don't think thats wrong, but his numbers are every bit as historic for a draft-eligible defenseman in his league as Parekh's are in his league. Parekh's numbers are also probably a slight product of the offensive system he plays in.

 

[LeProspector]

His skating is bad and needs a lot of refinement. I often wonder with him also if he’d be more successful as a forward, sort of like Brent Burns? He is lights out around the goal mouth, and as a defender being around the goal mouth isn’t something you want to see.

 

[landy92mack29]

it's not bad and most of the top scoring dmen aren't afraid to jump up into the zone