Ottawa Senators training camp is opening with more than just the usual early-September optimism. Even with 22 NHL contracts already on the books, there are still jobs to win, and the pressure lands hardest on the depth players trying to turn a camp invite into a jersey.
That reality makes the early buzz around Carter Yakemchuk impossible to ignore. The 20-year-old defenceman already had a strong path to the NHL club before word surfaced that Artem Zub was questionable to start the season. Zub is still rehabbing the injury he suffered in Round 1 against the Carolina Hurricanes, though he is skating, and that only adds another layer to the picture on Ottawa’s blue line.
Yakemchuk’s absence from rookie camp raised a few eyebrows, especially with the Toronto Maple Leafs even bringing No. 1 pick Gavin McKenna into their practices. But the Senators don’t need to slow-play Yakemchuk. He has shown enough poise and confidence that he can jump straight into main camp and compete.
What he has done in his short NHL looks has already given Ottawa a real reason to believe. In both brief stints with the Senators during 2025-26, Yakemchuk stood out. His willingness to attack in the offensive zone, take what the opposition gives him and hammer pucks toward the net is matched on the roster only by Jake Sanderson.
The question now is whether he has done enough on the other side of the puck to stay. If Yakemchuk has made even modest progress defensively and is buying into Green’s system, the AHL may not have much left to teach Ottawa’s top prospect.
He could fit on the third pair beside Tyler Kleven, and he also has the tools to run the second power-play unit. Development, after all, does not only happen at the lower levels.
“He’s just got to show that he can play every day,” Green said. “There’s one thing to play.
Imean, he can play. He showed that he can play last year.
There’s another thing to show thathe can play well every day. Can he do it over months?
He’ll show us.”
Yakemchuk is not the only player with something to prove, and Ottawa’s camp includes another interesting case in a 24-year-old who spent his entire career overseas before September and had never been to North America until two weeks ago. The Senators will give the Norwegian time to settle in and adjust to the NHL ice, but even in a rookie setting he looked comfortable by the second period against the Maple Leafs at the NHL Prospect Challenge on Saturday.
In Other News...
Senators Just Made A Huge Drake Batherson Commitment
Drake Batherson has long been one of the more reliable pieces of the Senators core, and now Ottawa has made it clear it intends to keep it that way. The right winger, who has been a steady performer since his NHL debut in 2018-19 and also brings Team Canada experience, agreed to a major new deal before the trade deadline, giving the club some much-needed certainty around a player who has become central to its plans.
For Ottawa, the timing matters as much as the player. Batherson is 28 and still squarely in his prime, which makes this the kind of commitment the organization can build around as it tries to take the next step. It also sends a strong message about how the Senators view him within the room and within the broader direction of the franchise, even as the details of the agreement place him in rare company among the teams all-time contracts. [Read more 🡒]
Matthew Knies Enters Camp With One Leafs Question Still Hanging
Matthew Knies spent part of the summer talking about golf, but the conversation around him has been a lot less relaxed. On the Leafs Morning Take podcast, the Maple Leafs forward said draining a hole-in-one took some of the pressure off his game and gave him something lighter to smile about after a season that included a knee injury and plenty of attention around his name.
Knies also looked back on a year that brought a career-high in points while leaving him dissatisfied with parts of his defensive play, and he sounded eager to put the whole stretch behind him as camp opens. For Toronto, the bigger question is less about what he has already shown and more about how he handles the next step after a summer of uncertainty and recovery. [Read more 🡒]
Senators Face A Telling Camp Decision On Their Final Blue-Line Spot
The Senators head into training camp with one of their more interesting lineup questions sitting on the blue line, where the final defense spot could help define how aggressively they want to lean into youth. Carter Yakemchuk, a former first-round pick, is expected to get a long look in a sheltered third-pairing role so Ottawa can start building his NHL experience without asking too much of him too soon.
Nikolas Matinpalo is also in the mix, giving the club a different kind of depth option as it sorts out how best to balance development and reliability. Ottawa has made it clear it wants to see what its young players can handle at the NHL level, and the next few weeks should show whether this opening is really Yakemchuks to lose or whether the Senators prefer a more flexible arrangement on the back end. [Read more 🡒]