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

[Chainshot]

I'm watching the Sabres-Sens game and Yakemchuk is walking the Sabres just like he walks junior kids. Two assists now. It's mostly an AHL squad for the Sabres but still that is remarkable for a freshly drafted kid, or any prospect really. A lot of folks are going to have to eat crow on Yakemchuk.

There is no one the Sabres dressed who will be on their opening night roster. Four of the guys don't even have NHL deals. Yak still looked very good against pros. Just not NHL pros tonight.

 

[Ace]

His second assist was a pass Boucher couldn’t handle that redirected off his skate to an open man. It was funny, He was the second best Senator in the game though after Ullmark. Team was outshot something like 41-16 by a combined less than 100 NHL game’s played roster…but it’s better than being the worst player in it

 

[Boud]

He'll be a great defensemen for a long time in this league. This is a great pick by Ottawa. The guy channels his nerves in a very impressive way. He looks calm and confident all the time, with and without the puck.

Even if he doesn't end up being the best Dman in the draft, he will be incredibly valuable as a physical, poised, skilled, and big right shot D.

Literally impossible to get this type of player nowadays, unless you draft them.

 

[57special]

He was the guy I was hoping MN would get. Big, strong RHD with a bit of nasty, and has good or better offensive tools. Those guys are VERY hard to find. Not complaining about getting Buium, as I really like him, too, but Yak was a good pick for OTT.

Main thing is not to rush him. If he can work on his defense away from the pressure and grind of the NHL it will only help him.

I can see him pairing up with either Sanderson, or even Kleven in the future. Can make an argument for both.

 

[SensFactor]

I gotta admit, i was highly skeptical of this guy when we drafted him. Hes been outstanding so far for Ottawa. Another 2 assists tonight. He plays like hes 30 not 18 years old

 

[Korpse]

Main thing is not to rush him. If he can work on his defense away from the pressure and grind of the NHL it will only help him.

I agree about not rushing him but wanted to point out that his defensive play has been mostly good to this point . He’s been good at closing space and breaking up plays. The biggest surprise for me has been his anticipation. He’s jumping on plays and getting the puck going the other way. If he maintains this level, you almost have to give him a look.

 

[The Last Red]

I gotta admit, i was highly skeptical of this guy when we drafted him. Hes been outstanding so far for Ottawa. Another 2 assists tonight. He plays like hes 30 not 18 years old

It’s the preseason. Relax.

 

[Bounces R Way]

Shelley Kettles has been working with Sens prospects for a while now. Batherson, Tkachuk, Stone are some of her students. Tkachuk credits her with vastly improving his balance. I think she will be a great fit with Yakemchuk, who by all accounts is a coachable and motivated young man

Don't envy her at all
Those two choppy slugs and now Carter 'Gangletron' Yakemchuk

I do think a lot of hockey people get too hung up on skating sometimes. Or maybe it's just that they don't know how to assess the whole picture. Obviously a huge part of hockey, but there's many other parts too. Incredible skaters like McDavid, Crosby, MacKinnon, and Makar are the prototypes right now but they aren't the only great players in the league.

The Tkachuks and Stone are first line wingers and could be beaten badly in a lap around the ice by quite a lot of the NHL, and not an insignificant portion of the AHL either. Matthew Tkachuk is a truly horrendous technical skater. Seriously he skates like an epileptic teenager with scoliosis. He's tallied just over 300pts the last 3 seasons and hoisted Lord Stanley in the summer. Mark Giordano was another, closer to a industrial rototiller than he was to Scott Niedermayer. Won the Norris at age 35. Adam Fox does not have a fluid stride at all but manages to be one of the most effective defenseman I've ever watched. Rantanen and Draisaitl were both top 10 in scoring last year despite being clumsy mechanically with a mediocre top speed. Jagr is 2nd all time in points and hasn't beat anyone to the outside since 1996.


Don't mean to rant but I think often speed is confused with pace. They're two different things to me. Pushing the puck forward doesn't always require fast dynamic skating.

 

[Hossa]

Don't envy her at all
Those two choppy slugs and now Carter 'Gangletron' Yakemchuk

I do think a lot of hockey people get too hung up on skating sometimes. Or maybe it's just that they don't know how to assess the whole picture. Obviously a huge part of hockey, but there's many other parts too. Incredible skaters like McDavid, Crosby, MacKinnon, and Makar are the prototypes right now but they aren't the only great players in the league.

The Tkachuks and Stone are first line wingers and could be beaten badly in a lap around the ice by quite a lot of the NHL, and not an insignificant portion of the AHL either. Matthew Tkachuk is a truly horrendous technical skater. Seriously he skates like an epileptic teenager with scoliosis. He's tallied just over 300pts the last 3 seasons and hoisted Lord Stanley in the summer. Mark Giordano was another, closer to a industrial rototiller than he was to Scott Niedermayer. Won the Norris at age 35. Adam Fox does not have a fluid stride at all but manages to be one of the most effective defenseman I've ever watched. Rantanen and Draisaitl were both top 10 in scoring last year despite being clumsy mechanically with a mediocre top speed. Jagr is 2nd all time in points and hasn't beat anyone to the outside since 1996.


Don't mean to rant but I think often speed is confused with pace. They're two different things to me. Pushing the puck forward doesn't always require fast dynamic skating.

I think it's more that people aren't talking about the same things when they talk about skating a lot of the time.

Yakemchuk isn't a technically fluid skater, there's no question about that. There are issues with balance and agility, his first couple steps are clunky, and his pivots aren't perfect. Some of those issues can be improved and ironed out. And some people pointed pre-draft to a later growth spurt as room for optimism, others were more worried about the natural athleticism.

But what he doesn't seem to have is issues with pace. Yakemchuk has shown so far an ability to make plays at pace, process the play in front of him especially well with faster and more skilled players, and that significantly mitigates some of the technical issues with his skating. And that's important because the development required to play at an NHL pace seems to be less of an uphill climb than one might think if we just reduce skating to its technical elements.

It's getting way ahead of things, but he and Sanderson could compliment each other quite well down the line. Sanderson's skating will always allow him to thrive on retrievals and in re-establishing possession, and he's very good at transitioning the puck with his feet, but he doesn't have Yakemchuk's knack for making plays to the inside off the line, nor quite as much creativity in general. The same could somewhat be true of Chabot, but it's easier to project Yakemchuk with Sanderson as a top pair over the long-term.

 

[bert]

Don't envy her at all
Those two choppy slugs and now Carter 'Gangletron' Yakemchuk

I do think a lot of hockey people get too hung up on skating sometimes. Or maybe it's just that they don't know how to assess the whole picture. Obviously a huge part of hockey, but there's many other parts too. Incredible skaters like McDavid, Crosby, MacKinnon, and Makar are the prototypes right now but they aren't the only great players in the league.

The Tkachuks and Stone are first line wingers and could be beaten badly in a lap around the ice by quite a lot of the NHL, and not an insignificant portion of the AHL either. Matthew Tkachuk is a truly horrendous technical skater. Seriously he skates like an epileptic teenager with scoliosis. He's tallied just over 300pts the last 3 seasons and hoisted Lord Stanley in the summer. Mark Giordano was another, closer to a industrial rototiller than he was to Scott Niedermayer. Won the Norris at age 35. Adam Fox does not have a fluid stride at all but manages to be one of the most effective defenseman I've ever watched. Rantanen and Draisaitl were both top 10 in scoring last year despite being clumsy mechanically with a mediocre top speed. Jagr is 2nd all time in points and hasn't beat anyone to the outside since 1996.


Don't mean to rant but I think often speed is confused with pace. They're two different things to me. Pushing the puck forward doesn't always require fast dynamic skating.

Those are the types of players that make her money. She probably loves a big talented player that grew late and had to mature into his body.

Is it that people get too caught up in skating or maybe they just aren't very good scouts? Skating is the easiest trait to identify. It's also something that will develop later in bigger players. Hence why big guys typically take longer to develop. Players that are great skaters also don't have to develop their hockey sense as much because they don't need to rely on it. The most important trait when scouting is actually pretty simple. Is the player around the puck alot. Does it follow them around. If so and you identify this trait. Then you gotta figure out why it's happening. If the player isn't a great skater it's typically because they have terrific hockey sense.

Yakemchuk even though his pivot and first step are not NHL level yet still has the puck on his stick all game.

His mechanics for skating are actually pretty good. He's just not very strong. His Edgework and puck control for a teenager his size is already elite. The real question now is about his character. Is he willing to put in the work in the gym and on the ice to get his first step to where it needs to be. That remains to be seen. Sometimes players this talented won't do it. I hope he does but we will see.

If he does... well this is a Unicorn type player.
No matter how well he playa he should be sent down. His skating and his defensive play away from the puck are just not NHL he needs lots and lots of reps on the ice and in the gym. It's gonna be hard to cut him but the sens have to for the greater good in his development.

 

[Edgelord]

Those are the types of players that make her money. She probably loves a big talented player that grew late and had to mature into his body.

Is it that people get too caught up in skating or maybe they just aren't very good scouts? Skating is the easiest trait to identify. It's also something that will develop later in bigger players. Hence why big guys typically take longer to develop. Players that are great skaters also don't have to develop their hockey sense as much because they don't need to rely on it. The most important trait when scouting is actually pretty simple. Is the player around the puck alot. Does it follow them around. If so and you identify this trait. Then you gotta figure out why it's happening. If the player isn't a great skater it's typically because they have terrific hockey sense.

Yakemchuk even though his pivot and first step are not NHL level yet still has the puck on his stick all game.

His mechanics for skating are actually pretty good. He's just not very strong. His Edgework and puck control for a teenager his size is already elite. The real question now is about his character. Is he willing to put in the work in the gym and on the ice to get his first step to where it needs to be. That remains to be seen. Sometimes players this talented won't do it. I hope he does but we will see.

If he does... well this is a Unicorn type player.
No matter how well he playa he should be sent down. His skating and his defensive play away from the puck are just not NHL he needs lots and lots of reps on the ice and in the gym. It's gonna be hard to cut him but the sens have to for the greater good in his development.

IMO he deserves to be on the team, been 1 of your best players. I fig put him with the best pure defensive D man on the team and let the kid rove

 

[Dan Patrick]

I’ve been impressed. Didn’t think it would happen but unless he implodes between now and October 10 he likely gets a cup of coffee with the Sen. Especially if Zub is out to start the season, but I think he should get sent down. Most fans would rather him playing closer to 20 minutes a night in major junior than the 10 he’d get on the bottom pair with the big club.

I don’t think he’s ready for top 4 minutes at 18. You don’t feed steak to a baby or whatever.

 

[Chainshot]

I’ve been impressed. Didn’t think it would happen but unless he implodes between now and October 10 he likely gets a cup of coffee with the Sen. Especially if Zub is out to start the season, but I think he should get sent down. Most fans would rather him playing closer to 20 minutes a night in major junior than the 10 he’d get on the bottom pair with the big club.

I don’t think he’s ready for top 4 minutes at 18. You don’t feed steak to a baby or whatever.

The only caveat I would add to that would be him playing 20 to 25 minutes a night instead of 30 or 32 like it seemed he was in Calgary last year. He was trying to be everything to everyone all the time and the places he needs to put in the work on his game might be better served if he has a strong stronger supporting cast around him instead of having to be Superman all the time.

Granted, that is why he should go back to the

 

[zenator]

I need to stop reading fan writeups about prospects, and instead watch them play, and listen to opinions of those in the know only.

I was afraid to watch the 1st game, as I had already written off Yak as a bad pick because of everything I read on here, reddit, etc, over the summer. I expected him to be terrible, and he was the opposite. I clearly saw why he was picked 6, and why 3-4 teams had him ranked 3rd in the draft.

A couple weeks with the Sens seems to have improved the rough parts of his game a lot. Maybe the coaching in Calgary is poor?

Dude has work to do, as evidenced by the play where instead of lying down to block the pass across, he didn't, and there was a clear cut chance against. Things like this can be taught, you can't teach the insane talent and toolkit he has.

I don't think I've ever changed my mind about a prospect from bad pick to great pick in 1 week before.

 

[DuklaNation]

Biggest adjustment for him is moving his feet first in defensive zone instead of reaching too quickly. A correctable weakness. I'd start him in NHL and shelter his minutes.

 

[Sensatauro]

I need to stop reading fan writeups about prospects, and instead watch them play, and listen to opinions of those in the know only.

I was afraid to watch the 1st game, as I had already written off Yak as a bad pick because of everything I read on here, reddit, etc, over the summer. I expected him to be terrible, and he was the opposite. I clearly saw why he was picked 6, and why 3-4 teams had him ranked 3rd in the draft.

A couple weeks with the Sens seems to have improved the rough parts of his game a lot. Maybe the coaching in Calgary is poor?

Dude has work to do, as evidenced by the play where instead of lying down to block the pass across, he didn't, and there was a clear cut chance against. Things like this can be taught, you can't teach the insane talent and toolkit he has.

I don't think I've ever changed my mind about a prospect from bad pick to great pick in 1 week before.

If you want to be profitable in projections of prospects, simply know that this place is full of 3/4s of insufferable fools whose lives suck so they shit on everything. It's not indicative of shit of our players. It's just a bunch of negative nancies masquerading as pretentious know it all's. They got to find ways to make others miserable. Crabs in the bucket syndrome is extreme on this board.

Yak looks like the prospect we needed. Got the intangible of strong intuition. Gift that's much more valuable at the higher levels of game. He's gonna be a beauty. Some defensive gaffes will happen, but that's the learning curve of everyone.

 

[LeProspector]

And we have the new name that Sens fans will overhype for the next 3 years

 

[coooldude]

If you want to be profitable in projections of prospects, simply know that this place is full of 3/4s of insufferable fools whose lives suck so they shit on everything. It's not indicative of shit of our players. It's just a bunch of negative nancies masquerading as pretentious know it all's. They got to find ways to make others miserable. Crabs in the bucket syndrome is extreme on this board.

Yak looks like the prospect we needed. Got the intangible of strong intuition. Gift that's much more valuable at the higher levels of game. He's gonna be a beauty. Some defensive gaffes will happen, but that's the learning curve of everyone.

I, however, am one of the 25% that are thoughtful, educated, and value-adding members of our society. My life is great, and I only shit in toilets. I am also an above average driver.

Seriously though, I had Yak going 7th to OTT and I really like his game. He has a lot of risk as a prospect but that risk is a lot less today than it was at draft time in June. I still think he's got a shot to be the best D in the draft class and as a Sharks fan, I'm glad the Ducks didn't pick him (or Buium) at 3.

 

[NyQuil]

And we have the new name that Sens fans will overhype for the next 3 years

It’s more the fact that we’ve been told what a terrible pick he was all summer so it’s gratifying to see some decent performances in pre-season.

 

[Agent Zuuuub]

I was worried his reliance on his hands would not translate as well in the NHL.

But jeez he's been absolutely undressing people so far.

Not the real NHL yet, but encouraging.

His skating will only get better and with his hands, reach, creativity, passing, shot, and a physical aspect to boot, he will be hard to contain.

What a package.

 

[zenator]

And we have the new name that Sens fans will overhype for the next 3 years

Yep. Just like Tkachuk, Stutzle, and Sanderson.

 

[Bjornar Moxnes]

I'm watching the Sabres-Sens game and Yakemchuk is walking the Sabres just like he walks junior kids. Two assists now. It's mostly an AHL squad for the Sabres but still that is remarkable for a freshly drafted kid, or any prospect really. A lot of folks are going to have to eat crow on Yakemchuk.

Yeah like individually I think Ullmark and Yakemchuk were above the Sabres squad. It's just for some reason the NHL regulars on the Sens squad played like they didn't care at all, and the other minor leaguers were pretty bad, so the Sabres as a whole were more cohesive and better.

 

[Agent Zuuuub]

Yep. Just like Tkachuk, Stutzle, and Sanderson.

We got a lot of shit for Karlsson too lol, and no one would listen about Stone.

Which one of these players were over hyped I wonder?

@LeProspector

 

[majormajor]

Yeah like individually I think Ullmark and Yakemchuk were above the Sabres squad. It's just for some reason the NHL regulars on the Sens squad played like they didn't care at all, and the other minor leaguers were pretty bad, so the Sabres as a whole were more cohesive and better.

That to me is the typical pre-season game. The AHL squads try and make their mark and might dominate possession, but then they don't finish and get picked apart by a couple skill plays.

 

[Sting]

And we have the new name that Sens fans will overhype for the next 3 years

I really think the Yakemchuk hype is going to pale in comparison to Hutson hype.

He's already been anointed as Makar 2.0 around here. Poor Yak just wants to make the NHL!