The Senators have signed top 2024 draft choice Carter Yakemchuk to his three-year entry-level contract, the team announced today. Financial terms were not disclosed.
Yakemchuk, 18, was the second defenseman taken in the class, going to Ottawa at No. 7 after the Blackhawks selected Artyom Levshunov second overall. Given his early birthday (Sep. 29), Yakemchuk has already accumulated three seasons of junior hockey with the Western Hockey League’s Calgary Hitmen. Last season, he was named to the WHL’s Central Division First All-Star Team and led all defensemen in goals with 30. He added 41 assists for 71 points in 66 games, adding a whopping 120 PIMs and a -6 rating.
Seventh overall was a tad earlier than most expected the 6’3″, 203-lb right-shot defender to go. He checked in at No. 13 in TSN’s Bob McKenzie’s season-end polling of NHL scouts and was the sixth defenseman in his composite rankings. He went ahead of Zeev Buium (Wild, No. 12), Sam Dickinson (Sharks, No. 11), Zayne Parekh (Flames, No. 9), and Anton Silayev (Devils, No. 10), all of whom were consensus top-10 picks heading into draft day.
Yakemchuk will be a name to watch in training camp, but it’s likely that the Sens return him to the Hitmen for his final season of junior hockey. Doing so would slide the beginning of his ELC to 2025-26. Since he’s a 2005-born player, Yakemchuk will be eligible for a full-time AHL assignment the season after, whereas most Canadian Hockey League players have to return to their junior team for two seasons following their draft-eligible campaign. Regardless, he’ll be an RFA upon expiry.
They don’t have to play 2 years juniors if they’re first round picks though, right? Not 100% clear on the stipulations.
Nope. While the NHL’s transfer agreements with European leagues usually have different rules for first-round picks, there’s no such clause in their transfer agreement with the CHL.