When the Ottawa Senators selected Carter Yakemchuk seventh overall in the 2024 NHL Draft, they went against the grain. The young Calgary Hitmen star was ranked as the sixth-best defenceman on most pre-draft boards, and four of the five listed ahead of him were still on the board when Ottawa stepped up to the draft podium to make their pick.
But the Senators bet on Yakemchuk’s offensive upside, size, and long-term potential.
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Now, nearly a year later, those same defencemen remain ahead of Yakemchuk, according to at least one draft/prospects publication. In other words, Yakemchuk hasn’t fallen off, but he also hasn’t done enough to prove Ottawa was correct in scooping him up before one of his higher-ranked peers.
This week, McKeen’s published its Top 200 NHL Affiliated Prospects, a list that includes four years' worth of prospects, primarily hailing from the 2020-2024 Drafts. They believe that Yakemchuk remains an excellent prospect at 26th overall, but he's also still behind the same five defencemen who were ranked ahead of him last year.
The actual 2024 draft order ended up being:
Artyom Levshunov (CHI, 2nd overall)
Carter Yakemchuk (OTT, 7th)
Zayne Parekh (CGY, 9th)
Anton Silayev (NJ, 10th)
Sam Dickinson (SJ, 11th)
Zeev Buium (MIN, 12th)
As far as the 2024 defensive draft class goes, McKeen’s now sets the 2025 NHL-affiliated prospect rankings as:
1. Dickinson
2. Levshunov
3. Buium
4. Parekh
5. Silayev
6. Yakemchuk
Again, everyone on the list above, other than Levshunov, was on the board when the Sens took Yakemchuk.
This past season didn’t offer a breakout case for Yakemchuk. After putting up 30 goals and 71 points in 2023–24, setting a Calgary Hitmen record for goals by a defenceman, his offensive numbers dipped to 17 goals and 32 assists through 56 games in 2024–25. Some of that decline was expected, though, as Yakemchuk deliberately shifted his focus to improving his defensive game and skating, areas that were flagged at Sens camp last fall.
Towering Utah Defenceman Would Be Ideal Senators Trade TargetInjuries to Artem Zub and Nick Jensen highlighted the Ottawa Senators' need for greater quality of depth on the right side throughout the 2024-25 season.
As with player development, rankings and evaluations can vary from one publication to another, and long-term value can’t be measured after only a year. But so far, the defencemen the Senators passed over have largely maintained their standing. Yakemchuk hasn’t lost ground, but he hasn’t gained any either.
The Senators remain confident in the pick, and obviously, prospect development timelines can also vary wildly from one prospect to the next, especially among defencemen.
But a year after making one of the bolder decisions of the 2024 draft, Ottawa will have to wait a while longer for some clear signs that their bet on Yakemchuk will pay off.
Steve Warne
The Hockey News Ottawa
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