2024 First-Round Pick Yakemchuk Thrived In Native Calgary Before Senators Selected Him

Calgary native Carter Yakemchuk rose through the major junior hockey ranks before the Ottawa Senators drafted him seventh overall in the 2024 draft. And the young defenseman has shown he's one of the stronger blueliners Canada has on the international front.

It's a rite of passage for most elite young hockey players to leave home in their mid-teens, moving in with billet families or into prep-school dormitories. But while Carter Yakemchuk is an outstanding offensive talent on the ice, he is also, quite literally, a stay-at-home defenseman.

Growing up in Calgary, the 2024 NHL draft prospect played his 15-year-old season for the Calgary Flames’ AAA squad. Then, he was drafted by the Calgary Hitmen in the third round (65th overall) of the 2020 WHL bantam draft. So he’s still sleeping in the same bed as always. “At home, during the season, I spend a lot of time with my family, just playing cards or something,” Yakemchuk said.

Growing up with older brothers Connor, also a defenseman, and Keeling, a goalie, Carter caught the hockey bug early. As the youngest child, he also quickly realized he needed to stand up for himself. “Being smaller than them, younger than them, maybe being the guy they picked on a little bit growing up, that definitely made me a lot stronger and toughened me up a bit,” he said.

And while Carter now checks in at an intimidating 6-foot-3 and tips the scales at just under 200 pounds, he had to wait a while for his growth spurt. At his bantam draft four years ago, he stood 5-foot-9 and weighed 146 pounds.

Over the decades, the WHL has produced some fearsome fighters. But Yakemchuk says he didn’t end up fifth in the league with 120 penalty minutes this season because he was trying to make a name for himself with his fists. “I play a little heavier game than some of the other guys,” he said. “But I think lots of the penalties are just kind of something that’s been happening this year.”

One of the older players in his draft class thanks to a late September birthday (if he was born two weeks earlier, he would’ve been draft-eligible in 2023), Yakemchuk began to draw attention during his second WHL campaign, posting 19 goals and 47 points in 2022-23.

At season’s end, he became the only 2024 draft-eligible player to be named to a WHL all-star team when he picked up second-team honors in the Central Division. Then, after Calgary’s first-round playoff loss to the Red Deer Rebels, Yakemchuk headed to Switzerland.

He donned the maple leaf for the first time at the world under-18s, helping Canada overcome a rough start to rally for a bronze medal while watching teammate and 2024 top prospect Macklin Celebrini wield his skill to the tune of 15 points in seven games. “He shoots the puck like I’ve never seen before,” Yakemchuk said. “He’s a super-special talent.”

This is an excerpt from Carol Schram's major feature story in The Hockey News' Top 90 Of The 90s issue, in which she profiles up-and-coming defenseman Carter Yakemchuk.

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