Carter Yakemchuk is back in the Senators’ lineup on Saturday night, and the rookie defenceman gets his latest chance to make an impression in Pittsburgh.
After sitting as a healthy scratch in six of Ottawa’s last seven games, the 21-year-old will step back into the third pairing alongside Tyler Kleven against the Penguins. He replaces Nikolas Matinpalo, who has been holding down that spot while Yakemchuk watched from the press box.
Head coach Travis Green made it clear the move isn’t a knock on Matinpalo.
"We’re fortunate we’ve got 7D that we really like," Green told the Senators social media team. "Yak’s just been out of the lineup lately. We felt like it was important to get him back in.
"It’s not a slight against (Matinpalo) at all. He’s been playing great this year, but we just want to make sure that we’re keeping everyone sharp, and Yak’s more than capable. We’re expecting a big game out of him as well."
That’s the reality Ottawa has been dealing with on the blue line. Yakemchuk, the seventh overall pick in the 2024 NHL Draft, played in the club’s first 13 games of the season, then found himself squeezed out as the Senators got healthier on defence. The result has been a stretch of far more time off than ice time.
There’s an obvious upside to keeping a young player around NHL veterans, practicing daily and seeing what the league demands up close. But there’s also a real case that Yakemchuk might be better off logging heavy minutes in Belleville, where he could run the power play and keep sharpening the quicker feet and defensive details that will shape his future.
For now, though, he’s in. And Saturday gives him another shot to prove he belongs.
Ottawa’s lineup otherwise stays nearly the same as the one that beat Colorado 4-3 in overtime on Thursday night.
The forward groups remain:
Fabian Zetterlund - Tim Stützle - Dylan Cozens
Phil Tomasino - Shane Pinto - Drake Batherson
Michael Amadio - Ridly Greig - Claude Giroux
Sammy Blais - Stephen Halliday - Hayden Hodgson
On defence, the Senators will go with:
Jake Sanderson - Artem Zub
Thomas Chabot - Jordan Spence
Tyler Kleven - Carter Yakemchuk
Linus Ullmark gets the start in goal, making his second straight appearance after returning from a lower-body injury that had sidelined him since October 21.
Pittsburgh is expected to answer with 22-year-old rookie Sergei Murashov in net. The Penguins’ projected lineup features:
Rickard Rakell - Sidney Crosby - Evgeni Malkin
Tommy Novak - Ben Kindel - Egor Chinakhov
Nicholas Robertson - Hendrix Lapierre - Justin Brazeau
Connor Dewar - Blake Lizotte - Rutger McGroarty
On defence, they’re expected to roll out:
Spencer Stastney - Erik Karlsson
Samuel Girard - Kaedan Korczak
Declan Carlile - Kris Letang
And Murashov is listed as the goaltender.
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