What insanity in Halifax. This is only my third year covering the QMJHL Draft but just judging by the overall reactions and talking to other people, this might’ve been one of the more absurd first rounds in recent memory. I can’t say I didn’t somewhat expect something like this, as there seemed to lack any consensus in this class, leaving it wide open for teams to interpret things as they saw fit. I’ll briefly go over some of the major events of the first round in the paragraphs below, before discussing some (shocking) names available for Day 2 of the Draft.
Trades Galore
First, I want to talk about some of the trades that happened on the floor yesterday. Much to the chagrin of Mooseheads fans in attendance, GM Cam Russell opted to move the 3rd overall pick (among other things) to Blainville-Boisbriand in exchange for Mateo Nobert. Just two picks later the Saint John Sea Dogs traded their 5th overall selection to the Victoriaville Tigres, who gave up 14th and 17th overall to select Jakob Royer. There was a double swap for the 8th overall selection where Cape Breton initially sent it to Chicoutimi for a package that included Lucas Beckman, Liam Lefebvre and Alonso Gosselin, before the Saguenéens sent it to Océanic to complete the Lefebvre trade. The Océanic then gave up their 2027 first-round selection, among other picks, to move up to 10th overall to select Max Brien.
Feel like your head is spinning yet? Because I certainly did.
In what was one of the more entertaining deals of the night, the Saint John Sea Dogs acquired last year’s 4th overall selection Thomas Charbonneau alongside Ryan Howard for the 14th overall pick, before the pick was then traded another 3 times, finding itself back in the Sea Dogs possession who took Nova Scotia defender Lawrence Williams.
Top-Ten Recap
In what was probably the worst kept secret in the QMJHL, Mount St. Charles forward Thomas Boisvert went first-overall to the Rouyn-Noranda Huskies to cap things off. I had Boisvert at 3rd overall on my board, and I could definitely see the appeal of having a player with that many high-end offensive qualities being the guy you want to be the face of your franchise moving forward.
The 2nd overall pick is where things got interesting, where Victoriaville took SSF Blizzard defender Vincent Boutet, who we had 8th on our board. Despite that, Boutet is probably the easiest defender to project to the QMJHL at this moment, so while I think they left some value on the board I’m sure they won’t lose any sleep over it. However, one of the more surprising picks of the draft came from the Tigres when they traded up to 5th overall to take Jakob Royer, who we had at 20th on our board. Jakob’s father Rémi was a star in the QMJHL, so maybe there’s something there with bloodlines and all that, but part of me believes they could’ve salvaged some of their picks and gotten him later on in the first round. At the end of the day though, if you want your guy then go get him, and the Tigres definitely got him.
Blainville traded up to 3rd overall to acquire the player who I think is the best in this class in Jacob McKinnon. With a lengthy rebuild looming, McKinnon will have plenty of opportunity to assert himself in the Armada lineup and just might be the new face of the franchise as it stands today. I really loved this pick for them.
We all knew the Shawinigan Cataractes wanted to make a splash in this year’s draft and they certainly didn’t disappoint. I was a bit surprised at their 4th overall selection when they took Esther-Blondin pivot Pierre-Alexandre Lemieux, but I had heard his name linked to them in some capacity. All week I had been hearing how much they loved Julien Bergeron, so the fact that he fell to them at 6th and thy were able to snag him with their 2nd pick in the top-10 was definitely best-case scenario. I think a handful of teams might regret letting Bergeron fall that far in the future. Shawinigan has continued to be one of my favorite drafting teams in the QMJHL, and with the additions of Lemieux and Bergeron they added two monumental pieces to their already highly talented young core.
The Halifax Mooseheads silenced their crowd a bit when they traded their 3rd overall selection, but they opted to head up to the podium for their 7th overall pick where they took Woodbridge Wolfpack forward Émrik Ménard. This was one of the more surprising picks of the night for me, as Ménard didn’t play a ton of hockey this year due to the Connecticut Jr. Rangers debacle and an injury suffered not too long afterwards. Despite that, he was one of the top players in the U15 AAA circuit in Québec in his D-1 season, and the Mooseheads staff definitely did their homework on him so only time will tell if it’ll pay dividends.
The Rimouski Océanic started off the night with 18th overall before a series of trades saw them picking at 8th and 10th overall. With the former pick they took local product Justin Gagnon, a 6’3 and 165 lbs forward with loads of skill who could end up being a top-6 winger for them in the future. At 10th overall, they took the first Atlantic-Canadian off the board in Dartmouth’s own Max Brien, another large forward to add to their group who brings energy and physicality. While these picks didn’t necessarily line up with my board, I considered both these players as first-round talents, so in a way I liked the way Rimouski was able to garner some value with the trades they made.
With the 9th overall selection the Sherbrooke Phoenix lined up perfectly with our board, taking our 9th rated prospect Damien Leduc. I think this is a solid pick for the Phoenix, getting themselves a physically mature centerman with some offensive pop who will be able to play up and down your lineup. Not a whole ton of instant analysis besides this was one of the picks I was least caught off guard by, and I think it’s a great fit for both sides.
Favorite Picks Outside the Top-10
I can’t say I expected Aslan Tremblay to fall outside of the top-10, but the Charlottetown Islanders did manage to get themselves a fantastic player at 11th overall. Pairing him with Antoine Provencher as a 1-2 punch down the middle in the future will make them a difficult team to contend with if both players continue on their upward trajectory.
In my estimation Rouyn-Noranda had the best first round of any team on Friday Night, capping things off with goaltender Zachary Lainesse and forward Malik Tremblay. Lainesse is one of the best goalies I’ve seen since I started scouting. He led the Lévis Chevaliers to a TELUS Cup championship as a rookie goaltender this season, and after the Samuel Meloche trade I can see him earning a roster spot as early as next season. The Huskies also getting Malik was the cherry on top; it’s no secret that I love this player as I had him ranked at 5th overall, despite getting some pushback from a lot of people. He’s one of the smartest players in the entire draft, and I think he’ll be making an impact in a QMJHL lineup sooner rather than later.
The Baie-Comeau Drakkar taking Enzo Roy at 17th overall selection was another pick that put a smile on my face. Roy’s dynamism has made him one of my favorite defenders to watch this entire year and he was able to play a key role on a very deep Lévis backend despite being one of their younger players.
General Thoughts
– No Americans went in the first-round, and I can’t say I was very surprised by that. That’ll all change today, where I expect a ton to go beginning in Round 2.
– Éliot Faucher (4th) and Zaac Charbonneau (6th) not going in the first round was something I didn’t expect, but in Charbonneau’s case the tender situation is obvious. I heard a team was willing to take him in the top-10, but things weren’t able to materialize, obviously. With Faucher I’m not entirely sure it’s hockey-related either, will be interesting to see where he goes today. I think he’s the best defender in the draft.