Projection: Top-Pair Defender

Strengths: Mobility, Rush Defending, Puck-Moving

Development Opportunities: Continue to hone out Offensive Game

Charbonneau may be the most projectable prospect in this entire class, combining a shrewd and detailed defensive game along with some impressive physical tools. He uses his lateral mobility and wide wingspan to take away time and space from opposing puck-carriers off the rush extremely effectively, helping kill plays in transition with a well timed stick or body check. In the defensive zone he constantly has his head on a swivel, reading and reacting to the play around him in order to jump passing lanes and kill defensive zone sequences as a consequence. He makes quick reads with the puck on his stick in transition while also displaying great accuracy on his outlets up ice which helps facilitate controlled zone entries for his team.

Charbonneau isn’t a black hole offensively by any means, he actually lead Shattuck St Mary’s 15U squad in scoring among defenders, finishing with 50 points in 61 games and even earning some powerplay time on one of the best teams in the country. That being said, he lacks dynamism and creativity in the offensive zone but rather relies on shrewd puck management and leveraging his lateral mobility to open up shooting lanes for himself to fire pucks through. This lack of true offensive prowess is what puts him behind L’Italien for me, but the gap isn’t that wide.

Thomas Charbonneau brought a physical brand of hockey to the table, overpowering puck carriers and smothering them with his size, mixed in with some disciplined stick checks to interrupt play. His lateral mobility like so many of these Shattuck blueliners enabled him to quickly cut down angles of puck carriers, force them to the outside, and with well-timed moves land a bodycheck or pin them against the boards to stifle their attempts. He cleared space in front of his own net well, moving bodies to give his goaltender a chance to see pucks, along with cleared any rebounds or second chances. There were some moments of sound puck handling upon beginning the defensive zone breakout, connecting on a simple first pass, he contributed to some clean zone exits which cannot be overlooked.

Charbonneau came into this camp as one of the more highly touted defenders for the 2025 QMJHL Draft, and I don’t think he did much to damage his reputation with his play at this camp. In terms of overall effectiveness, I thought he was one of the better defenders at making positive plays in all three zones and driving play from the backend. His strong backward skating and crossover technique allowed him to keep a good gap while defending off the rush, using his stick to poke the puck off opposing forwards stick and kickstarting the counterattack for his team. He’s a really strong puck-mover as well with the ability to process his options get the puck up the ice quickly into a teammate in space, threading pucks through traffic if need be to initiate controlled exits and entries. If he didn’t like what he saw, he could use his edgework to peel back in the zone and buy time for himself to reassess his options. From the offensive blueline he would always take the space that was offered to him up high to attack downhill and utilize his hard and heavy shot from the top of the circle.

Charbonneau showed throughout this event that he has all the makings of a strong transitional defender on both ends of the ice. On the defensive side of things, he was stepping up and making aggressive plays at the defensive blueline in order to deny entries and force dump-ins. Even when opposing forwards were able to gain the zone with controlled possession, Charbonneau was good at keeping them to the outside and utilizing his reach and active stick to check any hard drives to the net. Offensively he was jumping into the rush whenever the opportunity presented itself, often acting as the trailer option up high and getting off shots from the high slot as a consequence. Within the offensive zone I thought he was managing his pinches below the hashmarks and limiting his aggressiveness to make the right play the majority of the time.

As an anchor on the back end for Shattuck St. Mary’s, Thomas Charbonneau consistently played a sound two-way game for his team over the course of the tournament. He showcased some great defensive awareness, using his 6'1 frame to cut off cycle plays down low, pinning opponents to the boards taking them out of the play while also using a good defensive stick to close the gap on attacking forwards and disrupting passing lanes. With the puck on his stick there were very few mistakes made, he was decisive and would regularly make the smart play especially on breakouts by sending a short, quick pass to an open forward up the ice or if there was no immediate help, he would find a way to chip it out of the zone and away from any danger. On the offensive side of the game, he was just as efficient by keeping pucks in at the blue line and capturing a couple assists in which he was able to find the sticks of his teammates around the net with shots from the point through traffic.

Charbonneau is a player who got better and better as the game went along, providing a stability to Shattuck’s blueline by shutting down rush plays and moving the puck effectively. His gap control was excellent throughout, often opting to step up at the DZ blueline to either deny a zone entry or force a dump in behind him. He started to flash more offensive capabilities late in the game when he started pinching down low to keep plays alive and even earned himself a primary assist by using a subtle fake to open up a lane from the point before getting a puck through that was deflected into the net.

Thomas Charbonneau made an immediate impact during this one with some strong defensive plays early on, displaying great poise and gap control as speedy puck carriers worked down on him, he did a great job at neutralizing these threats, keeping play wide, and at times denying a zone entry entirely. There was little panic to his game whatsoever and with strong edgework he was fluid when changing direction. Good power to each individual stride as well, there is a good degree of athletiscism to his build, making him a dynamic defensive force. His defensive ability helped him translate to some offense, cleanly stripping opponents of the puck, and with his head up, did a great job at finding a man up ice with a quick and accurate stretch pass, and or simpler outlet pass to a man at the wall. Under pressure he demonstrated great composure and was able to make plays when being pushed and shoved. It wasn’t a very flashy game for Charbonneau, but the pure volume of defensive plays he made while looking smooth and in control of things the entire time had him as one of the most effective players in the game.

Charbonneau had a strong game, keeping threats to the outside and aggressively defending entries. Thomas was typically looking to pressure oncoming threats, take away their time and space, and shut them down. Once he regained possession, he was patient with the puck, scanning for options and typically choosing the right path to secure a controlled transition.

I Charbonneau was solid in his passing game, finding ways to secure zone exits, whether with simple outlet passes or long stretch passes down the ice to streaking forwards. It seemed like he was always scanning for passing options, being patient, and looking for ways to play with control. Of course, the physical tools were apparent, but I was mainly impressed with the passing decisions throughout this game.

One of the more heralded prospects to come out of Québec this season, Charbonneau saved his best performance for last after what I thought was an underwhelming first couple of games. His puck-moving was quick and accurate from start to finish, making heady decisions on his outlets that lead to many controlled exits and entries for Québec White. Charbonneau even showed an ability to deal with pressure that I hadn’t seen prior to this game, flashing some high-end edgework to peel back on regroups and either get the puck up the ice quickly to a forward or skate his way into space and gain the offensive blueline. He scored his team’s only goal of the game on the powerplay in the first period when he attacked downhill from the blueline into space and fired a perfect shot over the goaltender’s shoulder with a hard snapshot.

Our final standout player of the championship tilt, Thomas Charbonneau was an absolute pain to play against for Mount St. Charles. The size and tenacity, along with great strength and athleticism made him dominant in the corners and battling for 50/50 pucks. Through the middle of the ice in his defensive end he deflected plenty of passes, along with got in front of shots, deflecting them elsewhere, making his goalies’ job easier as a whole. In motion he gapped up on puck carriers well, kept them wide, prevented easy zone entry, along with denied a handful in the process. It wasn’t the flashiest game from Charbonneau, but without a doubt an effective one minimizing chances against.

I thought Charbonneau was steady throughout the whole game and rarely made mistakes when handling the puck. He made smart plays at the blue line keeping pucks in, reading the positioning of teammates and deciding to chip it deep into the zone or fire the puck at the net and contributed on his team’s go-ahead goal in the second period goal when Grubb deflected his point shot from the slot. I thought he defended opposing forwards well off the rush by closing them off along the boards when they entered the zone and using an active stick to disrupt passing lanes. He was very efficient on breakouts and regroups making quick decisions to feed forwards attacking up the ice.