Why Carter Yakemchuk Is a Must Have for the St. Louis Blues

Friday, June 28 at the Las Vegas Sphere marks the 1st round of the 62nd NHL Entry Draft, where the St. Louis Blues look to mainly bolster their defensive core with the 16th overall pick. With that single-round selection, as rounds 2-7 aren't until the 29th, St. Louis' best chance at snagging a top prospect would be in 18-year-old superstar defenseman Carter Yakemchuk from the Western Hockey League's Calgary Hitmen (Yes, that is the team's actual name- they're named for 90s star wrestler Bret "Hitman" Hart, a Calgary native)

St. Louis Blues: Defense wins championships?

Yakemchuk, a native of Fort McMurray, Alberta, is a generational defenseman whose numbers, both this season and the last for that matter, are nothing short of astounding for a D. 2023/24 saw him log 30 goals and 41 assists for 71 points in 66 of 68 WHL regular season games. In 2022/23, Yakemchuk had similarly impressive stats, posting 19 goals and 28 assists for 47 points in 67 games. During that time, he also played for Team Canada at the 2023 World Juniors, winning gold after Dylan Guenther's "golden goal." Yakemchuk is also quite a physical defenseman, racking up high PIM totals during his 3 seasons in Calgary; he had 120 minutes spent in the box in the 2023/24 season alone. His playstyle is personally likened to, ironically, the Edmonton Oilers' own star D, Evan Bouchard, who had similar numbers to Yakemchuk this season (18 goals, 64 assists for 82 points in all but 1 regular season games played plus 6 goals and 26 assists for 32 points in a career-high 25 postseason games in 2023/24)

Yakemchuk's draft profile notes he can manipulate opponents, make plays with perfect timing, and set up his teammates with excellent passes on most occasions. For the Blues, they could use a guy capable of excelling at that last one, seeing as how getting shots through to the net was one of their struggles this season. Yakemchuk is also a big, daring offensive defenseman with plenty of range and the tools to go along with it, and he has excellent power-play potential. While one negative thing would be his penalty magnetism, given his vast PIM counts the last two seasons, the WHL has been known as a more physical league for years now, and you need to be at least somewhat physical to make it as an NHL defenseman.

All eyes are now on Doug Armstrong, the Blues GM, on whether or not he'll use his only 1st round pick on this stellar resumed defenseman or perhaps a different top prospect in another position pool. Though the Blues have more chances at more picks in the later rounds, making 2 separate selections in the 2nd round thanks to a trade deal with Toronto, the 1st round selection is always the one that you want to focus on the most.