It’s been hard for Ottawa Senators fans to contain their excitement about Carter Yakemchuk, the team’s 2024 first-round defensive prospect who just turned 19 at the end of September. The teenager’s skill set, shot, poise and power-play time were all pluses as he sought to make the team.
Fans still talk about his preseason overtime goal against the Toronto Maple Leafs, which put him on the map.
🔴 CARTER YAKEMCHUK ⚫️
A brilliant move by the young defenseman to win the game in overtime! pic.twitter.com/oLWEQEKkw4
— NHL (@NHL) September 23, 2024
“His puck skills, his ability to skate through space, his great instincts and obviously the ability to finish,” Calgary Hitmen head coach Paul McFarland told The Athletic. “I think his offensive instincts, there’s some things that you know he does he just can’t teach. To his credit, he has the confidence and the ability to be able to execute it at a high level.”
Those factors played a role in Yakemchuk staying with the Senators as long as he did. Ottawa head coach Travis Green admitted he exceeded the team’s expectations, and Yakemchuk expressed comfort in his abilities throughout the preseason.
“I think that I can play at this level,” Yakemchuk said last week. “I didn’t have the strongest rookie camp, I think. But then I think I got here at main camp, I got better every single day. I think that was probably just the biggest thing, just knowing that I can play here.
“The confidence I had coming here. Everyone was so supportive to me when I got here, making me feel really comfortable. I think that was probably the biggest thing that helped me.”
It wasn’t enough to keep him on the roster as the Senators made final cuts on Monday afternoon. But while some fans might be disappointed to see him back in junior, it could be the right move for his development.
The Senators sent the right-shot defenceman back to the Western Hockey League’s Hitmen, the only other option available to him as he isn’t old enough to play in the American Hockey League yet (Yakemchuk would be eligible for AHL games next season as he’ll be 20 years old before the end of 2025).
“That was a very long, thought-out process within our whole organization. We went back and forth on it a lot,” Green said. “Not an easy decision to make. At the end of the day, I think we just felt to keep his progression going, what’s best for him as a player, stability for him as well, that it’d be best if he goes back for one more year of junior and play a big part of his team in Calgary. World junior stuff. Again, it was not an easy decision to make for our group.”
Yakemchuk’s positives also came with some negatives — some giveaways and inexperienced decision-making. It’s not uncommon for a young player to make those mistakes when trying to crack a pro roster for the first time. Green cited Yakemchuk’s maturity and age when asked what improvements he’d like to see from the young rearguard.
“If you go to the history of the game, it’s a hard league for a young defenceman,” Green said. “You have to make hard decisions sometimes and, again, it came back to what’s best for him.
“We foresee him being a top defenceman in the NHL. And a lot of times that’s just maturity over your whole game. Getting stronger physically. He’s a big man. I think there’s still a lot of room for growth as far as where his strength is going to end up when he plays in the NHL full-time. I think it’s just a natural progression. Being a leader, being an everyday player. He’s learned a lot in a short period of time here in camp and not going back and just forgetting that. Continue to push yourself to be great every day.”
The Senators’ opening day roster will feature seven defencemen, with Jacob-Bernard Docker looking like the extra in Monday’s skate. If Yakemchuk remained on the Sens roster, the team would’ve been best served to play him on a regular pairing instead of in and out of the lineup when he should be getting consistent reps. Yakemchuk did get time alongside Jake Sanderson during the preseason but the Sens would prefer to play their regular pairing of Sanderson and Artem Zub on the backline to start the regular season.
That morning, the Senators called the Hitmen and said they’d return the 19-year-old to his hometown team. The Hitmen are five games into their regular season and obviously see Yakemchuk as a big part of their squad. McFarland says Yakemchuk’s list of things to work on isn’t very different from most defencemen trying to jump from junior to pro and mentioned two key things he’ll focus on with Yakemchuk in Calgary.
The young defenceman will work on maintaining and setting gap control while going head-to-head against opposing players and working from the offensive zone back to his end.
“Challenging yourself to be uptight and have a good stick, and all those types of things that can allow a defensive to take away time and space through the neutral zone,” McFarland said.
His first pass on breakouts will also be a focus as he progresses with his transition play in offensive situations. The big key for both items on his checklist is getting Yakemchuk to process decisions at a faster pace suited to the pro level.
“Oftentimes you want to spend time in the O-zone, you’ve got to make good plays whether it be in transition on a breakout,” McFarland said. “As you move up and play at a higher level, you have less and less time to make a play. So those decisions have to be made quickly and obviously more accurately.”
If Green’s and McFarland’s words and Yakemchuk’s play are any indication, the young defenceman is close to being NHL-ready. Closer than anticipated in some ways. Yes, Senators fans would have loved to see him play nine NHL games before deciding his future, but it won’t hurt him to let him dominate at the WHL level for one more season while being a prime candidate for Canada’s world junior team over the holidays. Senators fans could even get a front-row seat to their future at the Canadian Tire Centre when the tournament is held in Ottawa this winter.
“He’s off to a great start with the time that he spent with Ottawa in training camp,” McFarland said. “I think just having that experience, and then now coming back to us is probably a lot better (of a) player than we sent away there three weeks ago.”
(Photo: Dan Hamilton / Imagn Images)
