Rockford IceHogs announced today that they have signed Chad Yetman to an AHL deal. The 2020 6th round pick of the Chicago Blackhawks is an interesting prospect to keep an eye on. 

Yetman is a 20 year old right-handed center. He’s not the biggest guy at 5’11”, but there are plenty of guys who have gone up to the NHL from the IceHogs who are sub 6’0”. There’s more to being a successful hockey player than being a massive, towering body.

He played with the Erie Otters in the OHL for the past three seasons. But, with COVID restrictions in Canada, the AHL is seeing more young guys turning pro. You may remember this name - the last goal scorer that the Blackhawks drafted from Erie was a guy by the name of Alex DeBrincat. DeBrincat’s linemate and best bud, Dylan Strome, is also a former Otter. If Yetman makes it to the NHL, those will be two guys he can bond with right away.

Taking a look at Yetman’s numbers, I am extremely curious how his production will translate to the AHL. He hit a career high 74 points in 61 games last season following up a solid 2018-19 season putting up 57 points in 68 games. 

Here’s how they broke down:

2018-19 - 68GP 21G 36A 57P

2019-20 - 61GP 43G 31A 74P

It would be intriguing to see another year from him in the OHL to see if his goal total would remain consistent with 19-20 or fall somewhere in the middle of his past two seasons. Either way, it’s clear that the kid has offensive talent. It’s time for him to come up to the pro game. We’ll see how it goes. Being a short season, it’s a good chance for him to get used to the AHL.

Here are a couple interviews from after the draft:

Talk is one thing, but how about his play on the ice? There aren’t many highlight videos on YouTube, but this is a good one that shows off his feet and shot. If he can up that speed a bit, it’ll be a beautiful thing to see for the IceHogs.

After watching some more Erie Otters game highlights, I noticed that his name came up a few times in each of them. He is one of the older guys on the team, but he factors into a lot of plays, and judging by his stat line - it pays off. In the interviews above, he mentioned being a 2-way player (something we always need). I don’t know if he will slot into a PK role for the IceHogs, but he did for Erie. You’ll find a video of him scoring shorthanded below. I can’t embed videos from the OHL website, but I’ve linked to a couple other videos to check out:

Scoring the shootout winner: https://ontariohockeyleague.com/video/oct-2619-ldn-5-er-6-so

Shorthanded: https://ontariohockeyleague.com/video/feb-1520-osh-5-er-6-so

Turn on the jets for his 40th of the season: https://ontariohockeyleague.com/video/mar-420-gue-3-er-4

If I had to make a guess, a very uneducated guess, Yetman comes in and looks solid with a lot of potential. He won’t be a world beater in his first pro season. 2021-22 will be the year to really see what we have in him.