Yakemchuk was chosen by the Ottawa Senators with the No. 7 pick in the 2024 NHL Draft and signed his entry-level contract Aug. 6. He drove 5 1/2 hours to Detroit for what would be his NHL debut, arriving at the hotel in the wee hours of the morning without getting much sleep. Then, with no morning skate to help him prepare, the 20-year-old defenseman was named the First Star with a goal and an assist in a 3-2 victory against the Detroit Red Wings on March 24, 2026. With his family in the stands, Yakemchuk played 12:46, including 1:22 on the power play, and had two shots and two blocked shots.

Yakemchuk grew up in an adjacent Calgary neighborhood with fellow defenseman Jake Sanderson, the No. 5 pick by Ottawa in the 2020 NHL Draft, and his older brother played minor hockey with Sanderson. He had 71 points (30 goals, 41 assists) in 66 games for Calgary of the Western Hockey League in 2023-24. He was fifth in the WHL in scoring at the position, one of 22 defensemen in league history to score 30 goals in a season, which set a Hitmen record and made him the first NHL Draft-eligible WHL defenseman to score 30 in a season since Ian White with Swift Current in 2001-02 (32).

Born in Fort McMurray, Albert, Yakemchuk's moved to Calgary when he was 6 years old. The hometown Hitmen chose him in the third round (No. 65) of the 2020 Western Hockey League bantam draft. He later emerged as a top 2024 draft prospect and ranked No. 11 among North American skaters in NHL Central Scouting's final rankings.