It’s overtime in Game 3 of the Shawinigan Cataractes and Halifax Mooseheads playoff series, and Cataractes winger Dennis Yan is on a two-on-one breakaway with Christophe Lalonde. It was Yan’s goal in the second period that sent the game to extra time. Lalonde winds up to take a shot, then wires a pass to an open Yan who has his stick on the ice in perfect position. Yan quickly snaps the puck, firing it over the goalie’s glove and dislodging the water bottle for good measure. It’s the first of seven playoff goals for a player who finished the regular season tied for the rookie goal-scoring lead with 33.
Yan took an unorthodox route to the QMJHL, travelling back and forth across the ocean multiple times. He was born in Portland, Ore., but moved to Russia at a young age. When he was 14, Yan returned to North America, playing midget in Sarnia, Ont. then Detroit. Despite being born in the U.S., Yan’s globetrotting ways made him eligible for the 2014 CHL Import Draft where the Cataractes selected him eighth overall.
“We said before the draft we’re going to take best player available,” says Martin Mondou, the Cataractes’ GM. Mondou worked with Yan’s agent Igor Larionov, the former Detroit Red Wing hall-of-famer, to ensure Yan would play for Shawinigan. The Cataractes traded the second overall pick of the 2014 import draft to the Memorial Cup host Quebec Remparts in a 2012 trade. With that pick, the Remparts selected Russian winger Vladislav Kamenev, a player who never ended up joining the team this year.
Yan made a splash in the Q right away, picking up a goal and an assist in his first game. scored a total of 64 points and was a team-best plus-23. Bookending his hot start, Yan finished the season with eight goals, including two in March. And after a slow start in the first two games of the playoffs, Yan emerged as the Cataractes’ most dangerous player with an overtime winner, a natural hat trick and a total of eight points.
“Every time he got into the offensive zone he was dangerous, he was reliable defensively and worked hard in the three zones,” says Mondou. Yan saw time playing the point on the top power play unit, utilizing his finesse shot along with strong positioning and hockey sense.”
His overtime heroics in Game 3 were followed up by a goal in Game 4 and a natural hat trick in Game 5, which the Cataractes lost 4–3 in double overtime. Yan played like a man on a mission that game, unleashing 11 shots on net and often going head-to-head and keeping pace with fellow NHL-eligible prospect Timo Meier of the Mooseheads.
“He was able to show that in tight situations and big games, he could find that offensive ability. That’s a really good sign for a young player who’s able to find that ability in the pressure games like the playoffs,” says one Eastern Conference NHL scout.
Still, like many young players, Yan needs to get stronger. He increased his physical play as the season went on but needs to add more strength to his six-foot-one, 188-lb. frame. “He needs [to be] able to battle harder one-on one. In [order to] to compete for space five-on-five, you got to be able to battle,” says the NHL scout.
Yan is currently ranked 30th among North American skaters by NHL Central Scouting. He’ll have familiar company at the draft with Cataractes teammate Anthony Beauvillier, who’s ranked three slots behind him. There are also a slew of former teammates from the U.S. National under-17 team Yan played for last season, including Noah Hanifin, Zachary Werenski, Colin White, Jordan Greenway, Christian Fischer and Jeremy Bracco. With the development team, Yan was a bottom-six forward and saw limited ice time, putting up 28 points in 48 games. But at the under-18 Ivan Hlinka Memorial Cup last August, Yan scored the overtime winner in the bronze medal game as the Americans beat Sweden 5–4. He won gold with the U.S. in the 2014 World Under-17 Hockey Challenge. Yan missed most of December with an injury, preventing him from getting a shot with the world junior team, but he’ll be a name to consider when the American squad is selected for 2016.
“He’s not listed as a [late]-first, start-of-second round NHL draft pick for nothing. He has great speed, good hockey sense, a very good shot and his vision is great. He’s really a good all-around player,” says Mondou.
