Just a few months after being selected seventh overall in the 2024 NHL Entry Draft, Carter Yakemchuk came close to making the Ottawa Senators after his first training camp.
Yakemchuk did everything he could. He led the Sens in pre-season scoring, putting up seven points in four games. He even scored two game-winning goals, including a dazzling end-to-end overtime effort to slay the hated Toronto Maple Leafs.
He made Ottawa’s decision to send him back to Junior about as difficult as possible.
“Carter had a tremendous training camp, but we made this decision in the best interests of his long-term development,” GM Steve Staios said earlier this month. “We had a healthy conversation with Carter, and we expressed that we have a plan for his development that will allow him to thrive once he arrives in the National Hockey League on a full-time basis. We are excited to watch his growth and trajectory in Calgary this season.”
Had Staios known that Artem Zub, a fellow right-shot defenceman, would suffer a concussion in the team’s third game, he might have decided to keep Yakemchuk around for at least that nine-game audition.
But if we agree that the NHL isn’t the right spot for his development right now, it probably would have been best if the rules allowed the Sens to assign him to the AHL with Belleville this season.
Yakemchuk was already hard to handle in the WHL last year as an 18-year-old, scoring 30 goals and 71 points. At six-foot-three and over 200 pounds, now he’s back there for another go as a 19-year-old, dominating against 16-and 17-year-olds on a team tied for eighth in the WHL’s Eastern Conference.
Yakemchuk has three goals and six points in just four games for the Hitmen. That’s a tidy pace of 51 goals and 102 points over a full 68-game season.
Between his size, skill, what he did in the NHL pre-season, and what he’s doing again so far in the junior ranks, Yakemchuk would be a pretty good argument for changing the existing CHL-NHL rule that prevents junior-aged players (under 20) from being assigned to the AHL. Maybe there should be exemptions.
But let’s be clear. It’s not like there’s no development going on in the WHL. That’s still a hell of a league with a lot of talent. Yakemchuk has a good new head coach in Paul McFarland, who knows what’s required to make the NHL jump. He’s spent six of the last seven years in the NHL as an assistant coach.
The mental side of the game and the player’s comfort must also be considered.
For example, at his first NHL training camp, Yakemchuk came off as a little shy with the media – a man of few words – which was more than understandable.
But a couple of weeks later, in contrast, you can already see his confidence blossoming in Calgary, on and off the ice, back with his peers who now look up to him even more. He’s the guy – the NHL first-rounder who almost made it the show in his first camp.
A few days ago, Yakemchuk was the one holding the microphone, totally loose and having fun interviewing his teammates on social media.
Maybe the AHL would be a little better path for this particular player but with his continued dominance in the WHL and leadership roles in Calgary and at the World Junior Championships in Ottawa, his development and career trajectory should both be just fine.
