Carter Yakemchuk scratched five times in six games
Coach Travis Green says the issue is Yakemchuk's mental game, not his play, while the seventh overall pick from 2024 sits in the press box.
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Carter Yakemchuk has been a healthy scratch five times in six games. Yakemchuk is waiver-exempt on his entry-level contract, which means Ottawa can send him to Belleville without losing him.
Green told reporters he has talked with the 21-year-old twice in the last week and a half about staying focused. "Not so much in his game, but just the mental side of it," Green said. "We're happy with his game. There's always a time in your career where you've got to stay patient and stay confident at the same time, but also work on your game."
Yakemchuk, the seventh overall pick in the 2024 draft, said he is working to find a role. "It's tough. Obviously, you want to play and you want to be in the lineup every single night, but yeah, I'm just trying to stick with it," he told reporters after practice.
The one game Yakemchuk played in that six-game stretch came because Tyler Kleven was under the weather, The Hockey News reported. A November 4 column in the same outlet argued the club lost depth defenceman Cameron Crotty on waivers the week before, a move it called questionable asset management while Yakemchuk sat in the press box.
Yakemchuk has three points and a minus-6 rating through 14 NHL games and is averaging 17:55 of ice time on the third pair. He posted 40 points in 54 AHL games last season and scored a power-play goal in Ottawa's 2-1 win over Philadelphia on October 9. Green has pointed to lapses in defensive-zone coverage and a skating gap that is still too wide against puck carriers as areas to improve.
Green has said Yakemchuk "has a great future."
