Why the Senators chose Carter Yakemchuk with the No. 7 pick in the 2024 NHL Draft

LAS VEGAS — In the days leading into Friday’s NHL draft, members of the Ottawa Senators were adamant they had no clue how the six picks would unfold ahead of them.

There was a level of mystery and intrigue that forced Ottawa’s amateur scouting staff to be prepared for even the most unlikely scenario to play out. And sure enough, when it was Ottawa’s turn to draft at No. 7, a surprising number of elite defencemen were still on the board. A draft class touted for being so deep with blue-line prospects, actually saw five forwards taken with the first six picks.

That meant the likes of Zeev Buium, Anton Silayev, Sam Dickinson, Zayne Parekh and Carter Yakemchuk were all available for the Senators.

Five defencemen with different profiles, each possessing high ceilings.

But when the Senators had their three minutes to deliberate on the pick before making the selection, lead amateur scout Don Boyd said there was absolutely no internal disagreement or debate.

“Those three minutes were just, ‘Put the pick in,'” said Boyd. “That was it.”

Bienvenue à Ottawa, Carter!

With the 7th overall pick in the NHL Draft we have selected Carter Yakemchuk of the @WHLHitmen

Avec le septième choix au Repêchage, nous avons réclamé Carter Yakemchuk des @WHLHitmen pic.twitter.com/ddmQdIF33P

— Ottawa Senators (@Senators) June 29, 2024

The Senators felt strongly about selecting Yakemchuk — even after general manager Steve Staios admitted it was a “unique” scenario to have so many good defencemen still on the board.

“We like the upside on Carter,” said Staios. “He’s a raw talent still and there is a great deal of potential with him. Our scouts do a great job and worked really hard to identify this talent. And we’re very happy to have him.”

“It’s everything. I wanted to go to an organization that wants me,” added Yakemchuk. “I blacked out for a second. It was such an unbelievable feeling.”

While Yakemchuk may not have appeared as high in mock drafts this week, he was listed as high as No. 3 in Corey Pronman’s rankings as recently as last month.

“Yakemchuk was a top defenseman in the WHL this season. He’s a 6-3 right-shot defenseman who has legit game-breaking skill. He constantly breaks down opponents one-on-one and can pull off a lot of highlight-reel moments,” wrote Pronman in late May. “Yakemchuk has star potential and projects to be a major-minutes player in the NHL with a lot of offensive upside.”

Yakemchuk — who arrived in town with roughly 35 friends and family in tow — said he had an inkling Ottawa was interested in drafting him at No. 7 after they requested another meeting with him this week. Staios said Yakemchuk seemed “a little bit more comfortable” in their interview this week, when compared to their conversation at the draft combine in Buffalo earlier this month.

“The combine is a stressful time for those players,” said Staios. “We just feel comfortable about the player and we feel there is a very high ceiling.”

“I met with them here in Vegas and I thought it went really well,” said Yakemchuk. “I felt really good about the conversation. I thought there could be a chance.”

Staios had a chance to personally scout Yakemchuk in the back half of the 2023-24 season, going out to watch him in the Western Hockey League.

“I saw a player who commanded the ice,” said Staios. “You look at how he dominated the play when he was on the ice. He just has a presence about him as well.”

Yakemchuk’s statistics have undoubtedly been scoured and analyzed by Ottawa fans in the hours following the draft. And he certainly has some eye-popping numbers that leap off the screen. His 30 goals in 66 games is an impressive feat for a defenceman in his draft-eligible season in the WHL. And his 120 penalty minutes also ranked fifth in the league.

Those numbers paint a pretty accurate picture of a defenceman who seems to be involved at both ends of the ice in an impactful manner.

“I’m a two-way defenceman that creates a lot offensively,” said Yakemchuk. “I think I play physical and I’m hard to play against in the D-zone.”

But when you ask Yakemchuk to list his favourite NHL player, he steers away from listing two-way studs of the salary-cap era like Shea Weber or Zdeno Chara. Instead, he points to a silky smooth forward who used to play for the Edmonton Oilers — the team he cheered for growing up.

“Honestly, I just didn’t really have a favourite defenceman. I liked Jordan Eberle a lot when I was younger,” explained Yakemchuk.

At one point during his brief media session, Yakemchuk — who has a handful of impressive YouTube videos displaying his raw skill — said his creativity in the offensive zone is the attribute that should define him.

“I think I pride my game in the offensive zone,” Yakemchuk said.

But it’s hard to ignore those 120 penalty minutes on his stat sheet as well. Remarkably, Yakemchuk took 16 different kinds of penalties last season.

But if you remove his five fighting majors (25 minutes) and his four 10-minute misconducts (40 minutes), you’re down to a much more reasonable 55 minutes in penalties. And when you look at those penalties, it’s not like he’s taking a ton of holding, hooking, interference or tripping calls that would indicate he’s always being burned in the defensive zone.

Boyd is not worried about Yakemchuk’s penalty accumulation and said it shows the markings of a highly competitive athlete.

“There were times last year that he had to rein it in himself a little bit and the team had to as well,” said Boyd. “But I’d rather rein him in than have to push him out the door.”

Yakemchuk explains the physical side of his game has really blossomed since he joined the Calgary Hitman as a 16-year-old in the 2021-22 season.

“I think it kind of comes naturally, but I think I started to really bring it out the last couple of years in the Western Hockey League,” said Yakemchuk. “It’s a tough league to play in. There’s lots of really talented guys and heavy guys that play the game hard. It’s a fun league to play in as a bigger defenceman.”

Yakemchuk may play a loud and attention-catching brand of hockey, but off the ice, he’s quiet and reserved. He was described as “an introvert” in Scott Wheeler’s profile on Yakemchuk for The Athletic in April. And during his first media session on a miniature press podium following his selection by Ottawa, Yakemchuk was polite, quiet and fairly reserved.

He did, however, light up when speaking about the influence of his family. He spoke about how his grandparents — who live in Fort Saskatchewan, Alberta — will often make the trek to watch him play when his junior schedule takes him to Edmonton and Red Deer. And Yakemchuk said having his parents seated next to him on Friday night inside the Sphere was a fitting tribute to recognize their influence on him.

“I just wanted to give my parents both hugs. I wouldn’t be here without them and it was so awesome that they were right by my side,” said Yakemchuk, smiling.

While Yakemchuk already has close to 200 WHL games under his belt with Calgary over three seasons, he believes returning to junior for the 2024-25 season is the best path for him to develop for this upcoming season. He had an opportunity to play in all situations last season and should once again easily assume the No. 1 spot on Calgary’s blue line this fall.

“Going back to another year of junior and just improve my game everywhere,” said Yakemchuk. “Work on my defensive side and continue to improve offensively and round out my overall game.”

Yakemchuk said he’s planning to make the first visit of his life to Ottawa next week for the club’s summer development camp. He’s more familiar with the western Canadian teams in the NHL, but is planning on quickly getting up to speed on knowing Ottawa’s roster and organization.

“I know they have some younger guys and some crazy talented players,” said Yakemchuk. “It’s going to be a fun organization to be a part of.”

(Photo: Jeff Speer / Icon Sportswire via Getty Images)