CALGARY — There is no mistaking Carter Yakemchuk’s player archetype when you see him on the ice with his Calgary Hitmen teammates, even if you have no prior knowledge of his attributes and accomplishments. The 19-year-old is a pure offensive defenceman with size and physical capability. Ottawa Senators fans will get you up to speed about his training camp, including the preseason goal he scored against the rival Toronto Maple Leafs.
Since then, Yakemchuk’s offence continues to be his strong suit. This past weekend, he set a franchise record for goals by a Hitmen defenceman when he scored his 64th and 65th career goals with the franchise in back-to-back games. When his team has a power play, Yakemchuk hangs at the blue line as a forward would, waiting to be sprung into the offensive zone. And once his team sets up shop, he takes his place in the faceoff dot — or the ‘Ovechkin spot,’ made famous by the Russian superstar.
“It’s good, the coaches have trust in me to play that position on the power play. Our power play has been really successful as of late,” Yakemchuk told The Athletic.
“Carter’s been outstanding,” Hitmen head coach Paul McFarland said. “He’s a guy that plays in all situations for us. A player that, for me, when the game’s on the line, he’s got ice in his veins. I think he’s a guy that can really contribute and a guy we want to have out there to win us a hockey game.”
But unlike his fellow compatriots who will suit up for Team Canada at the 2025 World Junior Championship, Yakemchuk will stay home. He wasn’t even invited to try out this year.
Yakemchuk was among many surprise omissions from this year’s selection camp, leaving many Senators fans who wanted to see him in Ottawa this Christmas disappointed.
“I think I was disappointed for a day,” Yakemchuk said. “But then I moved past it. Just trying to keep getting better and try to prove them wrong.”
When Canada head coach Dave Cameron was asked why Yakemchuk didn’t make the team on TSN 1200, he called the 19-year-old a “hell of a hockey player” and didn’t want to nitpick his game. But during the interview, Cameron emphasized having a roster that can play a two-way game.
“We’re picking a team, a team is more than one dimension. A team has to be able to play a 200-foot game and play different ways,” Cameron said.
Even when the Canadians needed an extra body due to injury for their selection camp, that invite went to Calgary Flames prospect Zayne Parekh instead. So Yakemchuk ended his first half of the WHL season with the Hitmen, beating the Prince Albert Raiders 8-5 at the Scotiabank Saddledome on Wednesday. Yakemchuk, however, finished the game without any points. He flashed some offence and had three shots, but he had some tentative moments and didn’t impose himself physically early in the game. At the same time, there was a concerted effort to keep opposing players in front of him and to not make many defensive mistakes.
Yakemchuk’s development at this point is all about how much he can improve defensively before graduating to the pro level. Yakemchuk knows having a better stick and better overall positioning will help him. McFarland still wants Yakemchuk to improve his gap control and ability to kill plays before their opponents cross the blue line while keeping them in front of him and limiting whatever space they have to make plays.
“At this level, you’re going to be able to get away with it a little bit. But at the next level, you can’t give any space,” McFarland said. “So we’re just trying to work on those defensive habits. He, along with everybody else, has to continue to work at it. But I think he’s made some great strides here both with and without the puck in the first half (of the season).”
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Those goals fall in line with what Senators GM Steve Staios wants, too. He was in attendance for Yakemchuk’s game on Wednesday.
“(Yakemchuk) was upset by it, and (we) talked him through it,” Staios said of Yakemchuk’s World Juniors disappointment. “These are times in your career you’re going to go through things like this, some disappointments, and you’ve got to use it as motivation.”
Weeks before, Staios told Postmedia through a statement that he thought Yakemchuk’s exclusion from Canada’s selection camp was “peculiar.”
“I thought that there was some that were a little bit harder for me to understand,” Staios told The Athletic of the decisions made on the selection camp. “I’m not at that level of evaluating it on a daily (basis) like I used to. But certainly had a pretty good feel of those players.”
In addition to working on his defending, Staios wants Yakemchuk to focus on ending the season on a high with his teammates. The Hitmen enter their eight-day break tied for second place in points in the WHL’s Eastern Conference.
“What I want is for him to put his mind on making the Calgary Hitmen WHL champions,” Staios said. “And that’s sort of the mindset that I want from all of our prospects, wherever they are. I don’t want him keeping an eye on the Ottawa Senators. I want him to make Calgary a championship team.
“You want to get used to winning and being in winning cultures, and I think you have to have the mindset.”
Message received from Yakemchuk. In a year where he won’t be counted on to defend a gold medal at the World Juniors, he can still help his team host a championship at the Memorial Cup.
“I’m really confident,” Yakemchuk said. “We have a great team. We brought in some amazing players to help us. I think we got a real shot at it this year.”
(Top photo: Jonathan Kozub / Getty Images)
