Carter Yakemchuk gives the Ottawa Senators a menacing, skilled defenseman

LAS VEGAS – Carter Yakemchuk has never been to the Canadian capital. That’s about to change.

The Ottawa Senators used their seventh pick in the 2024 NHL Draft to select Carter Yakemchuk, a bit of a surprise pick. With so many high-end defenders left on the board, the Sens are betting high on one of the best offensive defensemen in the draft – and one with a real mean streak.

“I’m at a loss for words right now,” Yakemchuk said minutes after getting selected. “It’s incredible.”

At 6-foot-3 and just under 200 pounds, Yakemchuk is the ideal size for a modern-day, puck-moving defenseman. He uses his strength to put a ton of power behind his shot, and his physical play is among the most notable of any defender in this draft class. He finished with 30 goals, 71 points and a whopping 120 penalty minutes, making for one of the more unique stat lines in the draft.

Yakemchuk grew up watching some of the Edmonton Oilers’ top forwards closely over the past decade. But from the get-go, he wanted to be a defenseman who can generate and terrorize from the point, and he only got better as he grew and matured. Yakemchuk’s game is about taking risks, going all-out to make flasy plays. There’s a reason he appeared in WHL highlight packs consistently, with few players being as fun to watch as the Calgary Hitmen defender.

“He’s the silkiest guy I’ve seen,” said Berkly Catton, the newest member of the Seattle Kraken. “He almost plays like a smaller guy, but he is a big guy. He’s always a threat, especially in the offensive zone.”

There are definitely some concerns, though. Yakemchuk’s defensive game is a few steps below some of the other players taken early in the draft, and his skating can be downright ugly, at points. It’s all things he knows, and he’s going to spend the next few years trying to iron all that out to become more effective in the NHL.

“They expect me to give it everything I can to get better on the ice,” Yakemchuk said. “That was probably the biggest topic of conversation about improving my defensive side of my game to become a better NHL player.”

But from Ottawa’s perspective, it’s definitely interesting. They were lacking a right-handed defender with high scoring upside, and he’s as good as anyone in this draft at generating dangerous scoring chances. That package will make him a dangerous player in the NHL, with some teams even believing he had top five upside despite the flaws.

You don’t want to draft for positional need because that’ll change often. But Yakemchuk likes to do a bit of everything, and in today’s NHL, being dynamic is huge. The skating and D-zone play is still a serious work in progress, but there are plenty of scouts who truly believe it’s all fixable. And if his skating can be just a bit better, and he can get those play reads down, Yakemchuk could be an absolute steal thanks to his tremendous offensive upside.

Many think Yakemchuk’s pure skill and size will ensure he becomes a serviceable NHLer at the very least. But until he can establish better defensive reads and add more speed and mobility into his step, he’ll need to do a bit more to take his game up a notch.

But, man. He’s fun to watch. He’s got incredible hands, a tremendous shot release, and acts like a fourth forward ou there. His potential to be a standout on the power play will allow him to put up some serious point totals in the NHL.

For now, Yakemchuk has time on his side, and his biggest selling points make him extremely attractive to teams looking for a high-impact option on draft day. If he’s able to overcome the flaws, Yakemchuk could end up becoming the best offensive defender this draft class has.

For now, he’ll keep making WHLers look like bozos.