Dallas Stars Draft Profile: Spokane Chiefs Forward Kailer Yamamoto

Up until the NHL Draft on June 23rd, the team at Blackout Dallas will be rolling out previews of the potential Dallas Stars selections. Today, we look at Kailer Yamamoto.

Name: Kailer Yamamoto

Position: Winger

Shoots: Right-handed

Hometown: Spokane, Washington

Birthdate: September 29th, 1998

Size: 5-foot-8, 153 lbs

Team: Spokane Chiefs (Western Hockey League)

Stats: 42 goals, 57 assists, 99 points in 65 games.

NHL Ceiling: Top-six facilitator

The Dallas Stars are stocked full of players with NHL-calibur size and skill. Players like John Klingberg (6’3″, 180 lbs) and Jamie Benn (6’2″, 210 lbs) are the prototypical, physically gifted pro hockey players.

For all the wrong reasons, smaller players in the National Hockey League are routinely devalued for their lack of size. They are immediately labeled as glasses half full due to their inability to match up or replicate NHL-level statures.

Undersized forwards like Joe Pavelski of San Jose, or Calgary Flames superstar Johnny Gaudreau have gone on to near-80-point seasons after shedding these stereotypes of smaller NHL players being outmatched. What they lack in size, they almost double their counterparts in skill.

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The same goes for dazzling Western Hockey League forward Kailer Yamamoto, a Spokane Chiefs superstar that stands at a mere 5’8″ and weighs in at just 153 pounds. The common misperception with small forwards like Yamamoto, who comes from both Japanese (father’s side) and Hawaiian (mother’s side) descent, is that they would be absolutely crushed by the typical NHL defensemen.

However, common sense and thinking proves otherwise: Yamamoto is way too fast and instinctual to get hit. Much like Columbus Blue Jackets star forward Cam Atkinson, whom to me is the best one-for-one comparison for Yamamoto, he makes plays extremely quickly and doesn’t wait around practically asking to be hit.

Yamamoto is an extremely skillful skater who can sidestep in and out of traffic to evade defensemen and make plays with the puck on his stick. Yamamoto’s 99 points were sixth in the uber-competitive WHL thanks to this exuberant playing style.

Dallas Stars

With 42 goals, which ranked 8th amongest all WHLers, Yamamoto can selectively rip it also. One of the most underappreciated wrist shots in the Draft class, the native of Spokane, Washington leans far down on his stick, Phil Kessel-esque, to create a bountiful amount of spin and elusiveness.

His speed and hockey sense allow for every player around him to play faster, and downright better. Yamamoto’s abnormal physique becomes more of an advantage than a flaw when accounting for his cleverness in resourcefully making quick plays, because he truly thinks one step ahead of the opponents and his linemates.

He likely won’t mature into a three-zone specialist, but Yamamoto remains relatively defensively responsible. For such a skilled offensive player, however, defense becomes easier when you’re holding the puck all the time.

Yamamoto, due to lack of size, likely learned to master these acts of hockey savior faire while coming up through the systems in bantams and midget hockey. His lack of physicality was the reason for Kailer being drafted 105th overall in the 2013 WHL Bantam Draft.

Nevertheless, he persisted and earned himself accolades that span from WHL Western Conference All-Star Team member to 2016 International Ice Hockey Federation Under-18 World Championship bronze medalist. This culminated into a potential first-round NHL Draft selection.

Yamamoto has gone through quite a bit as a young hockey player, which means Dallas Stars head coach Ken Hitchcock would have no issue getting him fit into the system if Dallas took him in the Draft on June 23rd or 24th. His resilience would give him an extra charge, much like Stars center Devin Shore.

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Yamamoto is one of the most interesting prospects in the Draft this season. He has skill to go top five in the selection order, but with scouts and coaches worried about his 5’8″ stature, he will likely drop to the 12-20 range.

It’s possible that the Dallas Stars elect to trade down from #3 overall and grab a spot within that range, meaning Kailer Yamamoto would be on their immediate radar.