Scouting Report
EVALUATED 07/06/2024
Austin Robson
Regional Scout- Eastern Canada
Projection: Top Six Scoring Winger
Projectable Skills: Puck Carrying in Transition, Shot, Mental Mapping
Development Opportunities: Consistency and Engagement
Plouffe very well may be the best puck transporter in this draft class. He owns a powerful set of crossovers which he uses to gain separation from defenders in the neutral zone, keep his head to assesses the appropriate routes and consistently gain the offensive blueline for his team. I like the way he avoids predictability off the rush as well, often deceptively using his speed and acceleration to catch defenders flat footed before driving wide or delaying and waiting for help to arrive. One thing that makes him standout among this year’s prospects is his mental mapping of the ice while in the offensive zone. All throughout the year he’s and this ability to execute spinning backhand or no-look passes to teammates in stride, a testament to his impressive pre-scanning ability and route anticipation. He’s proven throughout the year he’s a player who can score from distance, demonstrating a deceptive release to go along with an accurate and heavy shot that catches goaltenders off guard.
At his best Plouffe is one of the premiere offensive players in this class, but I thought in the latter half of the year he struggled with some consistency issues that took him out of games for long stretches of time. When he became the center of the oppositions defense focus, I found he struggled to adapt and problem solve his way out of uncomfortable situations with the puck. That being said, I still believe in Plouffe’s ability to be a high-end scoring winger for a QMJHL team someday.
Skating
9Puck Skills
8.5Hockey IQ
8.5Playmaking
9.5Scoring
9Physicality
7.5Defense
6.5Overall
8.36Scouting Report
EVALUATED 30/05/2024 Austin Robson
Regional Scout- Eastern Canada
Plouffe was at his best with the puck on his stick attacking off the rush. His combination of power, speed and puck control really help him drive play for whatever line he’s in, and although I thought he was a bit quiet throughout the tournament, you were still able to see the flashes of high-end offensive skill from time to time. His processing and decision-making ability allows him to play quickly and execute difficult plays at pace, which we were able to see a bit of here especially when he was playing with his Esther-Blondin teammate Alexis Joseph. He’s a really strong kid for his size, demonstrating the ability to withstand contact and make plays under pressure from opposing defenders. I also liked how inside driven he was when attacking off the rush, consistently trying to leverage his skill and gain access to the dangerous areas of the offensive zone.
Scouting Report
EVALUATED 27/05/2024 Austin Robson
Regional Scout- Eastern Canada
While I didn’t think this was one of the better Plouffe performances I’d seen throughout the year, he was still able to flash some of the traits and skills that make him one of the top prospects for this years QMJHL draft. Whenever his is high-end skating and puck carrying came to the forefront, he was almost impossible to contain in the neutral zone and was able to consistently gain the zone for his team. His playmaking off the rush is impossible to deny as well, as at his best he was able to thread passes through traffic on both his forehand and backhand and hit a teammate in stride. One term I consistently find myself using when describing Plouffe’s game is ‘mental mapping’, which is to say that he has that uncanny ability to know where his teammates are at all times and execute no-look passes that make himself look like a magician out on the ice. While I thought those moments weren’t as frequent at this event, Plouffe still had a few moments of brilliance that reminded me of why I consider him to be a high-end offensive talent.
Game Reports
EVALUATED 27/05/2024Austin Robson
Regional Scout- Eastern Canada
Although Plouffe has struggled to gain any real chemistry with any particular teammate so far in this event, he’s still managed to be one of their more effective forwards by acting as his line’s primary puck carrier at all times and using his mental mapping to get the puck to open areas. His off-puck positioning was also impressive throughout this game, constantly keeping his feet moving in the offensive zone and finding soft spots in dangerous areas to make himself a passing option. He made a few nifty passes in transition as well, demonstrating the ability to make crisp backhand passes through traffic that would hit a teammate in stride.
Game Reports
EVALUATED 28/04/2024Kamron Robson
Regional Scout- USA
It was a quiet first two periods for Plouffe with his team trailing 3-0 as there weren’t many puck touches for him to show the high-end skill we’ve seen from him all season but when the game started to get closer in the third, I thought he changed gears and was a lot more aggressive with the puck. He looked to get more pucks to the net whether it was from shots through bodies from the outside or looking for sticks in the slot before setting up Lemieux-Goupil to cut the deficit to one goal as he sent a beautiful saucer pass, from the half wall to the slot, right onto the tape of the cutting defenseman.
Game Reports
EVALUATED 26/04/2024 Austin Robson
Regional Scout- Eastern Canada
Plouffe was flashing his high-end skating and puck-carrying throughout the entirety of this game. The power he generates from his stride makes him extremely difficult to contain in one on one situations, as there were several times in this game where he was able to gain a step on a defender and drive the net for a scoring chance in tight. He’s an elusive stickhandler in the offensive zone as well, showing the ability to weave out of pressure in tight areas and make a pass to a teammate. Off the rush he demonstrates a great mental mapping of where his teammates and opposing defenders are, often performing slick drop and behind the back passes to a teammate skating into space. Plouffe was also tenacious on the forecheck, using his speed to pressure opposing defenders quickly, strip them of the puck and deliver a quick pass to a dangerous area.
Player Card
- All Data is derived via 5v5 per 60 minutes rate displayed in percentile format.
- Data Courtesy of In Slat.
SIGNED:
Sherbrooke Phoenix
17/12/2024
TEAM PREDICTION
TIMELINE
- 2024
17/12/2024
Jayden Plouffe is traded to the Sherbrooke Phoenix
- 2024
19/06/2024
Chicoutimi Saguenéens sign Jayden Plouffe
- 2024
07/06/2024
Chicoutimi Saguenéens select Jayden Plouffe in the QMJHL Entry Draft
