It wasn’t the most productive tournament for Pominville, who finished with no points in 4 games, but he was still able to flash some of the high-end offensive traits that make him such a prominent piece of the Phénix’s offense despite his size limitations. He’s extremely calculating in his approach both on and off the puck, constantly reading and reacting to the play around him to get himself into scoring positions and make quick passes to teammates that allow his line to play with pace whenever he’s out on the ice. I noted a handful of times where Pominville was able to enter the frame as soon as a loose puck presented itself in a scoring area, a testament to his intelligent play and anticipatory habits. He was at his best with the puck on his stick along the perimeter in the offensive zone where he had a knack for drawing pressure towards him then slipping pucks through sticks and bodies to create looks for his teammates along the interior. He still has a hard time penetrating the middle of the ice with the puck, but that seems to be solely a challenge of strength at this point and not to do with limitations on his skill level.

Despite his physical limitations Pominville is still able to impact a game at certain moments thanks to his high-level intelligence and leveraging his agility to create space for himself in the offensive zone. He possesses great scanning habits in all three zones which allows him to assess his options prior to his puck touches in order to play with pace and make quick one touch passes in transition. Despite his diminutive stature I thought he did a good job of getting inside positioning on bigger defenders by getting himself low to the ice and swooping in to retrieve loose pucks along the perimeter and keep driving his feet to escape unscathed. He showed some strong sequences of one on one skill when he decided to attack defenders head on, using quick inside-outside moves to create space for himself as a shooter. He’ll have to consistently prove he can handle bigger and older competition, but I am a firm believer in the skill level of this player.

Pominville was a player who kept getting better and better as the tournament went on, ultimately forcing himself into this list of standouts. Despite being just 5’5 and 123 lbs he showed a willingness to engage in battles along the perimeter and to absorb contact to make a play. He does an excellent job of scanning the ice before he receives a puck, which allows him to know where his teammates are at all times and to make quick decisions with the puck. He actually used his size to his advantage in certain situations, using his quick feet and agility to duck under defenders in the offensive zone and maintain possession with the puck. There were a few instances of him breaking up the oppositions transition attempts by hustling hard on the backcheck and using his stick to strip the puck away. He was quite proficient at tipping pucks in front of the net, nearly scoring on a couple of opportunities, and was also willing to take punishment to gain position. The chemistry between him and Scantlebury really blossomed in the latter half of the tournament, using give and go’s in the offensive zone and quick reads off the rush to dominate on a shift to shift basis. I’m excited to watch Pominville’s development as he continues to physically mature and hone his offensive game.

Son of former NHLer Jason Pominville, Jayden was similar to Jax Pereira in the sense of he may not have been the most impactful player shift-in and shift-out, but once he got some time and space to work with, his talent was on full display, and it was clear he was a special player. One of the better puck distributors I noticed in the tournament, it was rare he send an egregious pass that resulted in a turnover, more-so, he was consistent and used good judgement to attempt safe vs risky passes, having great situational awareness regarding what to do and when. On plays that required a risky pass to be made, such as 2-on-1’s or such, he owned the finesse and skill to perfectly dish saucer passes on the tape of his teammates. I’ve noticed with sons of former NHL players they all own great agility and edges the majority of the time, and Jayden is no different; he managed to open up plenty of ice for himself by simply having great control as he twisted and turned around the perimeter of the ice, handling the puck with his head up, and scanning the ice for plays. His skating seemed effortless at times, and on a few occasions gave him enough space to slide into the slot and snap a puck on goal in stride. Overall, a player whose talent level itself may have him ranked higher if the sample size of views was larger.

This was Pominville’s best game of the QMJHL Cup, showing off some dynamic skill and playmaking ability consistently. He was very difficult to contain in the offensive zone, using a combination of quick stickhandles, cuts, pivots and passing acumen to give Québec White fits defensively. He was processing the game one or two steps ahead of the opposition, using his vision deceptively to bait defenders away from his intended target. He was doing a great job scanning the ice before retrieving a puck, which made sense as to why he constantly knew where his teammates were even with his back turned. This was most apparent on Québec Blue’s third goal when he won a battle to loose puck behind the net then immediately fired a backhand pass to an open teammate in front of the net. He was using his speed effectively on the defense side of things as well, backchecking extremely well to break up transition opportunities for Québec White.

At 5’5 and 115 lbs Pominville is an extremely undersized forward whose size limits a bit of what he can do on the ice, but there is no questioning the amount of skill he possesses. He’s a very intelligent offensive player who scans the ice before receiving pucks and makes crisp and accurate passes under pressure. He’s good on his edges which allows him to perform quick cuts in the offensive zone to shake away from defenders and buy some time and space for himself. He developed some good chemistry with Scantlebury throughout the game, playing the give and go game to jump into dangerous areas of ice. His quick feet allow him to win races to loose pucks and avoid any puck battles that he just can’t win at this juncture of his development. I thought he avoided some tough areas in this game, although I do believe that part of his game is still very early in its development and will come with time.