Although the formal decision on where Carter Yakemchuk would begin his 2025-26 season would not be announced until Monday afternoon, anyone paying attention to the last few days could have inferred the obvious.

Yakemchuk participated in the team's limited skate on Saturday while the rest of the team was preparing to head to Montreal to take on the Canadiens in the Senators' last preseason tilt.

Compounding that wrinkle were the line rushes from Monday morning's practice. The left-shooting Donovan Sebrango took reps alongside Nik Matinpalo, leaving the 20-year-old Yakemchuk to share the ice with Jordan Spence, another right-shot defenceman who was intriguingly taking reps on his off-side.

Considering Tyler Kleven's lower-body injury and the possibility that he could return in time for the Senators' season opener on Thursday in Tampa, it would make sense to believe that Sebrango may be serving in a placeholder role. However, having two natural right-shot defencemen partner together in rushes, with the more experienced partner, Spence, playing his off-side, helped foreshadow Yakemchuk's demotion.

Approximately two hours before the league's mandated 5:00 pm ET deadline to submit their final 23-man roster, the Senators officially revealed that Yakemchuk had been loaned to Belleville. The organization also announced that Jan Jenik, Hayden Hodgson, Arthur Kaliyev, Lassi Thomson, and Mads Sogaard were sent to Belleville after clearing waivers.

The seventh overall pick from the 2024 NHL Draft will now begin his professional career in the American Hockey League, where he will be expected to play big minutes across all situations.

On Saturday, I had the opportunity to speak with Yakemchuk ahead of Monday's news.

"I feel pretty good," Yakemchuk affirmed while referring to his training camp and preseason. "I'm trying to get better every single day I'm here, and it's been a lot of fun so far."

As one of the few blue-chip prospects within an organization whose pipeline of prospects isn't as well regarded as others within the NHL, Yakemchuk is not burdened by that reality.

"It's cool when you get attention for doing what you love," he admitted. "It's fun just trying to embrace it.

"I try to focus on what I can control and what I can do on a daily basis. I'm just trying to get better and not worry about any outside noise."

Under normal circumstances, the pressures of being a high pick and walking into a dressing room where last season's team had their most successful season in eight years could be intimidating for any young player to try to integrate into that mix.

For Yakemchuk, the experience of last year's successful preseason in which he led the Senators in scoring with two goals and 5 points, including a beautiful overtime winner in Toronto, in three games, certainly helped.

The young defenceman also credited his veteran teammates with helping make him feel more comfortable.

"It being my second year camp, I'm trying to take a lot from the guys who have been here for a while and see what they do on a day-to-day basis," Yakemchuk stated. "I've been trying to learn from all the older guys.

"The guys here have been great and been good to me, so it's been pretty easy for me."

If not travelling to Montreal for the final preseason game bothered Yakemchuk, he was not letting it show. He indicated that he was planning on watching it, but if his absence was a precursor to a demotion to Belleville, he would seize the opportunity.

"I just have to embrace it, go down there and grind to try and get better every single day," Yakemchuk said. "There are a lot of great guys down there. It's a great team, so no matter where I wind up, I'll be excited and embrace it.

"(If it happens), my goal is to be the next up if I don't make it. That is my mindset."

Yakemchuk had an interesting preseason. Although he did not replicate last preseason's offence, the defenceman looked like he gained a step with his skating, while looking more comfortable with his defensive play.

"Throughout the summer, (skating) was one big thing for me," Yakemchuk explained. "I tried to improve my skating forwards and backwards. So, I had a good summer coming into the camp, and I feel good about it.

"(Defence) is an area of my game I'm really trying to improve on and am trying to get better at. It's coming along and obviously, I've got a long way to go. I want to improve all aspects of my game, but I want to obviously get better defensively. That's the biggest area, no matter what level I'm playing (at). I want to really focus on the defensive side of the game."

Thanks to the depth that general manager Steve Staios acquired in the offseason, the organization can afford to be patient with their highest-rated prospect. The addition of the aforementioned Spence to a right side that already includes Artem Zub, Nick Jensen and Nik Matinpalo means that Yakemchuk can adjust to the professional game in the AHL.

Under Staios, the organization has exhibited patience with defensive prospects before. During the 2023-24 season, the Senators left Kleven in Belleville for the bulk of the campaign, even though he warranted a promotion ahead of some of the alternatives that season.

There is certainly something to be said about the preseasons Matinpalo and Spence had and whether Yakemchuk outplayed his competition, but there is no question that the gap between the young prospect and his peers is not that large.

Perhaps Yakemchuk could have survived at the game's highest level, but without that strong farm system, the organization needs a player like Yakemchuk, who has that high pedigree, not just to survive but to thrive. No prospect's development has ever been irreparably harmed because they spent too much time in the AHL, so affording Yakemchuk time won't hurt him.

He will be up eventually, and when that first recall occurs, the organization will be banking on it being the best version that Yakemchuk can offer. 

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