1. Carter Yakemchuk, D<\/strong><\/p>\nSeptember 29, 2005 | 6-foot-4 | 207 pounds | Shoots right<\/p>\n
Drafted: No. 7 in 2024
Tier: Top of the lineup player<\/p>\n
Skating: NHL average
Puck skills: Above NHL average
Hockey sense: NHL average
Compete: NHL average
Shot: Above NHL average<\/p>\n
Analysis:<\/strong> Yakemchuk\u2019s play was up and down this season, but overall, he was still one of the better defensemen in the WHL. He\u2019s a 6-3 right-shot defenseman with a very high skill level. He\u2019s an attack-first type of defenseman who uses his great skill and good enough mobility to constantly break down opponents. His skating stride isn\u2019t technically perfect, and it can break down, but it\u2019s powerful. Yakemchuk has a bullet shot from the point and will be a one-timer threat in the NHL. He\u2019s more of a shot than a pass threat, and while he can see the ice well and makes tough plays, his vision isn\u2019t at the same level as his shot or stickhandling. He can make stops due to his feet, length and strong physicality, but his defensive play is a concern. Yakemchuk should have been a far more reliable junior defender this season than he was, but between trying to score and giving half-efforts in his own end, he has a lot of details to clean up. He has major pro potential, with the ability to be a top pair\/top PP type, but I can see him frustrating coaches along the way.<\/p>\n2. Logan Hensler, D<\/strong><\/p>\nOctober 14, 2006 | 6-foot-2 | 196 pounds | Shoots right<\/p>\n
Drafted: No. 23 in 2025
Tier: Middle of the lineup player<\/p>\n
Skating: NHL average
Puck skills: NHL average
Hockey sense: Above NHL average
Compete: Below NHL average<\/p>\n
Analysis:<\/strong> Hensler didn\u2019t have a huge draft season, but he was still a top-four defenseman for Wisconsin and held his own at the World Juniors for Team USA. He\u2019s a 6-foot-2, mobile right-shot with strong offensive skills and playmaking ability. At his best, his offensive touch can stand out, and I\u2019ve seen him break games open. That player has shown up inconsistently over the years, though. His defending is OK. His length and feet will allow him to make stops and retrieve effectively in the NHL, but he\u2019s not a super-hard-to-play-against type. Hensler doesn\u2019t stand out at any one thing, but he does enough things well that he should be a solid NHL defenseman.<\/p>\n3. Jorian Donovan, D<\/strong><\/p>\nApril 5, 2004 | 6-foot-2 | 201 pounds | Shoots left<\/p>\n
Drafted: No. 136 in 2022
Tier: Projected to play NHL games<\/p>\n
Skating: Above NHL average
Puck skills: NHL average
Hockey sense: Below NHL average
Compete: NHL average
Shot: Above NHL average<\/p>\n
Analysis:<\/strong> Donovan was OK as a rookie pro, but the tools he has remain quite intriguing. He\u2019s a clear NHL-caliber skater. He has a powerful, fluid stride that easily picks up speed. Donovan isn\u2019t that physical, but he closes on checks well and can retrieve pucks like a pro. He displays good enough offensive skills, although I don\u2019t think he sees the ice that well and plays with his head down. His brain will concern coaches, but his feet could make him a useful depth defenseman.<\/p>\nHas a chance to play*<\/p>\n
Gabriel Eliasson\u2019s puck play is quite limited, but he\u2019s huge, skates well for his size and is highly physical, so there\u2019s a path for him to play a third-pair role.<\/p>\n
Lucas Beckman, G<\/strong><\/p>\nAugust 23, 2007 | 6-foot-2 | 194 pounds | Catches left | Drafted: No. 97 in 2025<\/p>\n
Tyler Boucher, RW<\/strong><\/p>\nJanuary 16, 2003 | 6-foot-2 | 216 pounds | Shoots right | Drafted: No. 10 in 2021<\/p>\n
Xavier Bourgault, RW<\/strong><\/p>\nOctober 22, 2002 | 5-foot-11 | 179 pounds | Shoots right | Drafted: No. 22 in 2021<\/p>\n
Gabriel Eliasson, D<\/strong><\/p>\nSeptember 9, 2006 | 6-foot-7 | 220 pounds | Shoots left | Drafted: No. 39 in 2024<\/p>\n
Lucas Ellinas, C<\/strong><\/p>\nMarch 12, 2006 | 6-foot-1 | 185 pounds | Shoots left | Drafted: No. 104 in 2024<\/p>\n
Tomas Hamara, D<\/strong><\/p>\nMarch 9, 2004 | 6-feet | 192 pounds | Shoots left | Drafted: No. 87 in 2022<\/p>\n
Blake Montgomery, LW<\/strong><\/p>\nMay 4, 2005 | 6-foot-4 | 196 pounds | Shoots left | Drafted: No. 117 in 2024<\/p>\n
Hoyt Stanley, D<\/strong><\/p>\nFebruary 4, 2005 | 6-foot-3 | 201 pounds | Shoots right | Drafted: No. 108 in 2023<\/p>\n
* Listed in alphabetical order<\/p>\n
Player eligibility: All skaters who are 22 years old or younger as of Sept. 15, 2025, regardless of how many NHL games they\u2019ve played, are eligible. Player heights and weights are taken from the NHL.<\/p>\n
Tool grades: Tool grades are based on a scale with six separate levels, with an eye toward how this attribute would grade in the NHL (poor, below-average, average, above-average, high-end and elite). \u201cAverage\u201d on this scale means the tool projects as NHL average, which is meant as a positive, not a criticism. Skating, puck skills, hockey sense and compete for every projected NHL player are graded. Shot grades are only included if a shot is notably good or poor.<\/p>\n
Tier definitions: Tiers are meant to show roughly where in an average NHL lineup a player projects to slot in.<\/p>\n
(Illustration: Will Tullos \/ The Athletic. Photo: Vincent Ethier\u00a0\/ Getty Images)<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Ottawa\u2019s pipeline has been highly ranked for years, but with Tim St\u00fctzle and Jake Sanderson no longer qualifying…\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":174390,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[42],"tags":[293,3105,62,67,132,68],"class_list":{"0":"post-174389","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-nhl","8":"tag-nhl","9":"tag-ottawa-senators","10":"tag-sports","11":"tag-united-states","12":"tag-unitedstates","13":"tag-us"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/174389","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=174389"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/174389\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/174390"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=174389"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=174389"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=174389"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}