GARRIOCH: Senators ready to get first look at Carter Yakemchuk in an Ottawa uniform

Published Sep 12, 2024  •  4 minute read

Carter Yakemchuk is selected by the during the Ottawa Senators with the seventh overall selection during the first round of the 2024 Upper Deck NHL Draft at Sphere on June 28, 2024 in Las Vegas, Nevada Photo by Bruce Bennett /Getty Images

Frosh week started Thursday at the Canadian Tire Centre.

The Ottawa Senators top prospects went for a lengthy skate before jumping aboard the Iron Lung just after lunch to make the seven-hour bus ride to Buffalo to participate in the Prospects Challenge at the LECOM Harbourcenter.

Among the 27 players that will suit up for the Senators during this three-game tournament that begins Friday against the New Jersey Devils is defenceman Carter Yakemchuk, who was selected No. 7 overall by the club during the National Hockey League draft held this past June in Vegas.

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While Yakemchuk isn’t expected to make the jump to the NHL this season after three years with the Western Hockey League’s Calgary Hitmen, this tourney is a chance to get a taste for what the competition will be like when main camp opens next Wednesday in Ottawa.

He noticed he wasn’t in Calgary anymore after taking a twirl under the watchful eye of Belleville head coach David Bell — who will be behind the bench in Buffalo — along with some of the hockey operations staff, who were watching from the stands.

“It was good to get back into the swing of things,” Yakemchuk said. “I thought it was a really high-paced practice and I thought it went really well. There’s lots of skilled guys out there. It’s a lot different from a junior camp or junior hockey, so it was a good test for me on the first day.”

Yakemchuk knows he can’t put any pressure on himself.

“I just have to go and play my game,” he said. “I’m here for a reason. I have to do what I can do on the ice and I have to do that every game.”

Prospect tournaments are the type of event where you want to see high-end players like Yakemchuk steal the show.

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Not to put any pressure on Yakemchuk, but I go back to the days when skilled players like Marian Hossa, Martin Havlat and defenceman Anton Volchenkov dominated these events at the Bob Guertin Arena in Hull.

Yakemchuk should be one of the club’s better players and, if he is, then that will give him confidence headed into main camp. He likely won’t play all the games because that’s not necessary but, by all accounts, Yakemchuk is skilled and it’d be nice to see that on display.

He had 30 goals and 71 points in 66 games with the Hitmen last season.

“My message to defencemen is always just survive in these things,” Bell said. “He’s played against 20-year-olds in the WHL, but there’s going to be guys in the first game that have played a full year in the American Hockey League, so there will be adjustment with the timing.

“It will be a bit of a scramble at this tournament, but as you build to go into main camp, he’ll learn that things close off fast, guys are stronger and he’ll just have to learn to survive his firs training camp.”

Nobody expects Yakemchuk, 18, to make the Senators this season, but it would be nice if he was good enough that coach Travis Green is confident enough to use the 6-foot-3 product in an exhibition game or two.

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“I would expect that we’re going to see some offence in his game. We know that he has to work on certain things, just like everybody else does,” Ottawa chief scout Don Boyd said. “He’s got offensive ability, he’s got a really good stick and a really good mind offensively.

“He’s a big kid that can play physical. We just want to ease him in here. He’s a late-born player, he’s been three years in (the WHL) now, so it’s time for him to take another step. We hope he has some comfort in his first camp because we don’t want to put any pressure on him.

“We want him to play his game and we’ll work on the rest with him.”

This is why you can’t rush prospects to get to the NHL.

This is just another step in what the Senators hope will be a long career for Yakemchuk. He will get a chance to play for Team Canada at the IIHF world junior championship in Ottawa at Christmas, unless he gets hurt or has a really bad first half.

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Yakemchuk should have plenty of confidence heading into this weekend because nobody doubts that he has a bright future ahead of him, whether he has a strong tournament or not.

“This gives every player a chance for self-evaluation,” Boyd said. “If they’re realistic, they know where they are right now and they need to get too. Next Thursday (at main camp) is another step up. Everything along the way has been a step, so this is Yakemchuk’s step to come into rookie camp and be able to perform.

“He can get a feeling of the pace because the pace will ramp up next week.”

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