Projection: Top Pair Defender

Projectable Skills: Rush Defending, Breakout Passing, Gap Control

Development Opportunities: Shot Selection

Chartrand’s mature and detailed game make him one of the more projectable players in the entire draft class. He’s a strong backwards skater who uses good lateral mobility and a long reach to stick with speedy attackers off the rush and limit their time and space. Chartrand rarely panics on his retrievals or regroups as well, showing good patience with the puck on his stick and executing breakout passes on a consistent basis. His in-zone defending is also quite projectable, as he displays good foot speed and strong gap control to limit opposing forwards time and space around the perimeter while also demonstrating good awareness while defending in front of the net. His offensive game has grown considerably throughout the year as well, showing more confidence from the offensive blueline and using his lateral mobility to walk the line and wait for lanes to open up. There’s still room for him to grow offensively, as he does tend to blindly throw pucks on net from the blueline, although I do believe he has improved on this throughout the year.

Continuing a strong end to the season, game in and game out Chartrand consistently played a mature two-way game throughout the event by translating his plays in the defensive zone into offensive opportunities so efficiently for his team. He defends opponents extremely well off the rush, forcing them to the outside and towards the low danger areas using his backwards skating ability, crossing over with a mix of power and finesse while also pressuring with an active stick, keeping a tight gap between himself and the attacker trying to neutralize any moves to the middle of the ice. In the defensive zone he carries that same active stick, taking away time and space from opposing shooters, getting his stick into passing lanes and using his strength to overpower his opponents during puck battles. He makes a solid first pass up the ice on breakouts and tends to make simple plays in all 3 zones with small area passes and hard low shots to the net making him such a reliable defenseman.

Steady would be the word I use to encapsulate Chartrand’s performance here. He was Québec’s most reliable and consistent defender in all three zones, bringing stout defending and intelligent play to the backend. He was anticipating the forecheck extremely well while going back for pucks in his own zone, scanning his surroundings in order to examine the play behind him before making a quick cut to escape the forechecker and initiate the breakout. His powerful lateral mobility made it possible for him to close off attackers in the neutral zone before they could gain the offensive zone, often forcing dump-ins or stripping them of the puck. Chartrand was a bit less trigger happy from the point than I’d seen in previous viewings, keeping his head up as he walked the line and spotting passing options from the point more frequently.

It was yet another steady and reliable performance for Chartrand in this game, showcasing why he’s one of the more junior-ready players in this entire class. He was very calm and poised on his breakout attempts, demonstrating snap and accuracy on his outlet passes and never rushing pucks up due to the incoming pressure. He was flashing his lateral movement from the offensive blueline as well, walking the line with his head up waiting for a shooting or passing lane to open up in front of him. He was forcing less pucks on net from the point as well, demonstrating a playmaking acumen that I hadn’t seen a whole lot of in previous viewings. Off the rush he was doing a great job of gapping up on opponents and restricting their access to the interior of the ice with his long reach.

Chartrand’s calm demeanour from the backend was a breath of fresh air for Québec in a game that was so run and gun. He consistently scans on retrievals, assesses where the pressure is coming from and uses a quick move to evade before making a crisp outlet to initiate the breakout. His gap control was great in one on one situations, keeping his stick close to the attacker and the puck to limit his space and deflect any shot attempts. From the offensive blueline he was fairly confident as well, keeping his head up as he walked the line waiting for shooting lanes to open up.

It was a dominant all-around game for Chartrand to cap off an impressive QMJHL Cup performance. He played a very sound defensive game that saw him consistently get into the shooting lanes of his opponents, closing out on shots with his stick or throwing his body in front of shots. I thought he was really good at denying zone entries by using powerful crossovers to stay in front of forwards, guiding them to the low-danger areas and timing his stick checks well on opponents who tried to get to the inside. I was very impressed by his puck moving abilities in this one as well as he was composed with the puck sending firm tape-to-tape passes while controlling the blue line and during breakouts where a few times he shielded multiple opponents off the puck and managed to break the puck up the ice or chip it past the blue line and out of the zone. He made a nice defensive play in the first period, poking the puck off an attacking forward before quickly sending the puck up to Dontigny in the neutral zone leading to the opening goal of the game coming off the ensuing rush and later in the game, grabbed his second assist of the game and sixth assist of the event in the second period when he sent a hard low shot to the net that deflected off a leg in front and onto the tape of Roy for the 3-0 goal.

Cameron, I thought was the best defender in this game. Everything he did was quick, and at a high level. When plays were running through him in the offensive zone, his puck touches were quick, and he was able to spread the puck around efficiently. I also loved the way Chartrand turned his stick blade and body to receive passes that were off target.

A strong showing again from Cameron Chartrand as he commanded the point offensively for the Selects. He defended well on the rush and using his defensive stick work he closed down the opposition before stepping in and making a physical play to tie things up. He was starting plays from his own end by making strong rushes up the ice after gathering the puck in his own end and escaping the forecheck. He was constantly involved in the play once they set up and he did a very good job moving the play effectively from side to side and shifting the defense over to create space for his forwards to access. He moved well along the point and was able to find passing and shooting lanes for himself, doing well to find lanes to get the puck on goal. He fluttered a nice shot on target for Duskocy to get a deflection on as he tipped it past the goalie. He was quick in his release and did not allow the goalie to get set up or the defense to clog up the lanes, and he was able to wire one in for himself.

I’d definitely seen a ton of Chartrand before this game due to him being eligible for the QMJHL Draft, so my expectations on him were quite large on him coming in. Despite this, I thought he pulled together one of the more impressive performances I’ve seen from him throughout the course of the year. On his retrievals he was dealing with pressure extremely well by scanning multiple times, embracing contact and making a quick play with the puck to an open teammate to initiate the breakout for Bishop Kearney. Defending off the rush he was dealing with even the speediest of Mid-Fairfield forwards boy forcing them to exterior of the ice and then cancelling them out along the boards. He was consistently thinking one or two steps ahead of the play, making quick and calculated reads with the puck on his stick to either speed up the breakout or the transition game for the Selects. I don’t think he’ll ever be the most creative or dynamic player in the offensive zone, but I liked how he was timing his pinches along the boards in order to keep the play alive and extend possession time

I’d definitely seen a ton of Chartrand before this game due to him being eligible for the QMJHL Draft, so my expectations on him were quite large on him coming in. Despite this, I thought he pulled together one of the more impressive performances I’ve seen from him throughout the course of the year. On his retrievals he was dealing with pressure extremely well by scanning multiple times, embracing contact and making a quick play with the puck to an open teammate to initiate the breakout for Bishop Kearney. Defending off the rush he was dealing with even the speediest of Mid-Fairfield forwards boy forcing them to exterior of the ice and then cancelling them out along the boards. He was consistently thinking one or two steps ahead of the play, making quick and calculated reads with the puck on his stick to either speed up the breakout or the transition game for the Selects. I don’t think he’ll ever be the most creative or dynamic player in the offensive zone, but I liked how he was timing his pinches along the boards in order to keep the play alive and extend possession time.