Ottawa Senators sign defense prospect Carter Yakemchuk to three-year, entry-level contract
The Ottawa Senators have signed top defense prospect Carter Yakemchuk to a three-year, entry-level contract, the club announced Tuesday afternoon.
Yakemchuk, 18, collected 30 goals and 71 points in 66 WHL games with the Calgary Hitmen during the 2023-24 regular season. The Senators selected the 6’3″, 190-pound right-handed defender with the No. 7 overall pick in the 2024 NHL Draft.
“Carter has a bright future ahead of him,” Senators president and general manager Steve Staios said in a statement on Tuesday. “He’s an offensively-gifted defenceman who’s competitive and who has an NHL-ready shot. With continued development, we expect him to become a key member of our defence corps for many years to come.”
Chuk this out!
The #Sens have signed defenceman Carter Yakemchuk to a three-year entry-level contract.
Les Sénateurs s’entendent avec le défenseur Carter Yakemchuk sur les modalités d’un contrat de trois saisons de niveau débutant. pic.twitter.com/JAmmxVmfnO
Yakemchuk has spent the last three seasons playing with the Hitmen, emerging over that time as one of the top goal-scoring defenders in the Canadian Hockey League. The Fort McMurray, Alberta product amassed 19 goals in 67 games during the 2022-23 season with the Hitmen before leading all WHL defenders in goal-scoring in his draft year.
Before selecting Yakemchuk, the Senators had not made a single first-round pick since 2021, when they nabbed forward Tyler Boucher at No. 10 overall. Before that, the Senators added forwards Tim Stützle and Ridly Greig, as well as defenseman Jake Sanderson, in the first round of the 2020 NHL Draft.
Yakemchuk projects to be a cornerstone piece of a Senators defensive group that also includes Sanderson, Thomas Chabot, Tyler Kleven, Artem Zub, and Jacob Bernard-Docker, the latter of whom are the only other right-handed defenders under 30 of note in Ottawa’s organization.
The Senators selected six players in the 2024 NHL Draft, with Yakemchuk leading the class. Under first-year GM Staios, Ottawa also added 6’6″ defender Gabriel Eliasson in Round 2; forwards Luke Ellinas, Javon Moore, and Blake Montgomery in Round 4; and Finnish defenseman Eerik Wallenius in Round 5.
Now that he officially has an NHL contract, Yakemchuk is eligible to begin the 2024-25 season with the Senators; however, if he plays more than nine games with the club out of training camp, the first year of his entry-level deal will take effect. Yakemchuk recently took part in the World Junior Summer Showcase and will likely play for Team Canada at the 2025 IIHF World Junior Championship in Ottawa.
The Senators finished the 2023-24 season in seventh place in the Atlantic Division with a 37-41-4 record and 78 points in 82 games, missing the playoffs for the seventh consecutive year. The club has been active in making changes this summer, most notably trading Jakob Chychrun to the Washington Capitals, acquiring Linus Ullmark from the Boston Bruins, and hiring Travis Green as head coach.