The Ottawa Senators are in the midst of a playoff chase for the rest of the season, currently sitting four points out of a playoff position. As they look to build momentum down the stretch, they have been forced to deal with injuries to their defense.
Top blueliner Jake Sanderson is week-to-week with an upper-body injury, and veteran Nick Jensen is also out, albeit on a day-to-day basis. Those injuries have forced the team to tap into some of its organizational depth, but some Senators fans may have been surprised to see 2019 first-rounder Lassi Thomson recalled to the NHL roster, rather than 2024 No. 7 overall pick Carter Yakemchuk.
TSN reporter Claire Hanna asked Senators GM Steve Staios about the club’s decision to leave Yakemchuk in the AHL. He noted that while the team has considered recalling Yakemchuk, they are trying to be mindful of the exact nature, and timing, of how they introduce Yakemchuk to the NHL.
The Senators are set to play some extremely high-stakes games in the coming weeks. Based on what Staios told Hanna, the Senators organization believes putting Yakemchuk into their NHL lineup for those games would not be a move conducive to his development.
The 6’3″ former WHL star is currently the No. 1 defenseman for the AHL Senators, playing a heavy workload for Belleville, including on the power play. But Yakemchuk, who has 33 points this season, has only 46 games of professional experience. And while he has played quite a bit for the AHL Senators, he has not factored into the team’s penalty kill.
In fact, it’s Yakemchuk’s still-growing defensive game that is likely giving the Senators pause when it comes to potentially calling him up for the team’s playoff chase. David St-Louis, Lead Scout at Elite Prospects, wrote in a game report last month that Yakemchuk’s “defensive reads are a work in progress.”
When considering both what is best for Yakemchuk’s long-term development, as well as the team’s short-term interest in maximizing its odds of winning the remaining games on its schedule, it’s understandable that the Senators are, to this point, resisting the temptation to recall their top prospect.
While recalling Yakemchuk might offer greater upside than bringing up Thomson, there is also the potential that taking Yakemchuk out of Belleville to place him in a depth role in an NHL lineup in some high-stakes contests could hurt his confidence and disrupt the rhythm he’s developed at the AHL level.
Yakemchuk, who has scored six points in his last two games, will almost certainly be a major part of the Senators’ future. Keeping him in the AHL, at least for now, requires considerable patience. But it could also be one that most directly aids Yakemchuk’s development.