Projection: Top-Six Scoring Winger

Strengths: Shooting Mechanics, Halfwall Playmaking, Puck Skills

Development Opportunities: Defensive Engagement, Strength

Arsenault kicked off his draft-eligible season hotter than any other prospect in this years draft, scoring 24 goals and 40 points in just his first 23 games before an injury in December took him out of play until the post season. He’s probably the best pure goal scorer in the draft, with the ability to overpower goaltenders from a distance with a heavy and deadly accurate snap or slapshot while also demonstrating great patience and finishing touch around the net; catching passes in mid stride down low and being able to make a quick pull to either his forehand and backhand and get enough leverage to put it over the goaltender. Along the halfwall in the offensive he’s able to beat you in multiple ways, either by leveraging his puck skills to pull pucks off the wall and attack the middle or make quick reads while under pressure to thread pucks to traffic and into dangerous areas. His passing in transition is a part of his game I feel is underrated, as he’s able to connect on cross-ice feeds through seams to hit teammates in stride that helps facilitate clean entries into the offensive zone.

Ultimately, Arsenault didn’t look like the same player when he came back from the injury which does make you wonder how much his long-term development was affected by it. I do find he shows a willingness to deal with contact in order to spin off checks and work his way into space, but adding further weight onto his 5’11 frame will make him more durable as he’ll surely face more punishment in those areas in the next level. His defensive game does need work as well, as he can get caught puck watching at times and does try leaving the zone early looking to spark a rush chance for his team. There is definite risk in his game, but Arsenault could definitely be classified as a home-run swing in this draft class.

It was a subpar showing for one of the more highly touted prospects for this year’s QMJHL Draft, finishing the event with just 2 points in 4 games and looking rather ineffective at times. However, I’m willing to give Arsenault the benefit of the doubt, as he recently returned from a wrist injury in early March and just went through a lengthy playoff run with his club team. My notes on him still showed some really promising sequences, especially in transition where he connected an plenty of cross-ice feeds through traffic that helped facilitate controlled entries into the offensive zone. His best offensive moments came while he was flying down the wing off the rush and showcasing his elite shooting mechanics to snap pucks while in motion that came off quickly and with velocity. His accuracy did seem a little off throughout the tournament, but I’d attribute that to him still recovering the aforementioned injury.

I can tell Arsenault is going to be a lot of fun to watch this year. It didn’t take long to realize he possessed one of the more dynamic skillsets of the entire camp, combining an elite pair of hands with strong offensive instincts to generate chances at a very high rate. He’s always looking to attack defenders head on off the rush trying to leverage his puck skills to beat defenders one on one. He’ll need to limit the amount of times he tries to deke through defenders rather than utilize his teammates, but the highlight reel plays were frequent throughout this event. Towards the end of camp, he started to diversify his approach by implementing drop passes off the rush to get to puck to teammates in space as he drove the net and pushed back defenders. Arsenault was also able to get defenders to drop on fake shots, which allowed him to cut across them laterally and into space to get a shot off from a dangerous area. He’s also able to corral bad passes while in motion, either by kicking up a puck that landed in his feet or pulling his stick back to one touch a puck up in front of him, all while maintain his stride.

I saw a lot of second and third effort plays from Arsenault in this game that really impressed me. He won a couple of hard battles at the top of the defensive zone to effectively clear the puck out of danger and made a nice lunging play that almost sent his teammates in on an odd-man rush opportunity. He was an effective cog in his team’s transitional play with smart reads up the ice all throughout with his best moment of the game coming from an impressive tape-to-tape pass through a tight seam that sent his teammate in on a breakaway attempt. We know how good of a goal-scorer Arsenault can be but it was nice to see his versatility shine through in this game.

This was definitely a more noticeable performance for Arsenault on Day 2 of the QMJHL Cup, earning plenty of looks for himself in the offensive zone and flashing his high-end shooting mechanics on a regular basis. He was getting himself into space in the neutral zone, often taking passing in stride to attack down the wing and firing shots in motion, even hitting a post in the process. His playmaking really stood out in this game as well, especially in one instance when he initiated a give and go sequence in the OZ to get a puck down low before executing a cross-ice feed that his linemate couldn’t capitalize on.

It’s quite apparent that Arsenault is still trying to regain the pace in his game after a wrist injury had him sidelined since December, but that didn’t stop him from flashing his elite skill and finishing ability in this one. He did things in this game that no one else on the ice was capable of, consistently beating defenders 1v1 with high level puck skills and generating chances for himself and his linemates from the middle of the ice on a consistent basis. There was one sequence in the second period where he beat two defenders off the wall with a singular spin-o-rama move and then executed a cross-ice feed to an open teammate who couldn’t bury the opportunity. He scored his team’s second goal of the game by attacking into space off-puck off the rush, catching a pass down low and making a quick pull to his forehand before depositing it over the goaltender’s glove. He nearly ended the game in overtime as well by making a slick toe drag move around a defender while attacking 1v1, cutting to the middle of the ice and just missing high on the ensuing shot.

It was a quiet first 40 minutes for Arsenault before he helped will his team to a comeback victory with a near dominant offensive performance in the final frame. I don’t think he was necessarily bad in the first half of the game, but there were a few moments where he opted to be a tad bit too individualistic, opting rather to try and take defenders one on one and will his way to the middle of the ice or skate himself into problematic areas, which lead to a few turnovers. In the third period he started to establish his playmaking ability off the rush, keeping his head up in motion to spot trailing options up high and execute slip passes through sticks in traffic to hit teammates in stride. He scored the game tying goal on a wraparound attempt when he picked up the puck behind the net, faked a wraparound to the right side and pulled it back to the left, fooling everyone and the goaltender in the process, before depositing it into the open net. He made some high-end dashes through the neutral zone as well, catching a step on defenders too create a bit of space for himself to attack the inside and was also distributing pucks to the middle of the ice from along the halfwall. Arsenault was also on the ice defending the lead with a minute remaining and scored the empty net goal to seal the deal for good measure.

It was a quiet first 40 minutes for Arsenault before he helped will his team to a comeback victory with a near dominant offensive performance in the final frame. I don’t think he was necessarily bad in the first half of the game, but there were a few moments where he opted to be a tad bit too individualistic, opting rather to try and take defenders one on one and will his way to the middle of the ice or skate himself into problematic areas, which lead to a few turnovers. In the third period he started to establish his playmaking ability off the rush, keeping his head up in motion to spot trailing options up high and execute slip passes through sticks in traffic to hit teammates in stride. He scored the game tying goal on a wraparound attempt when he picked up the puck behind the net, faked a wraparound to the right side and pulled it back to the left, fooling everyone and the goaltender in the process, before depositing it into the open net. He made some high-end dashes through the neutral zone as well, catching a step on defenders too create a bit of space for himself to attack the inside and was also distributing pucks to the middle of the ice from along the halfwall. Arsenault was also on the ice defending the lead with a minute remaining and scored the empty net goal to seal the deal for good measure.

Arsenault was looking to attack defenders head on early and often in this contest, opting to try and get pucks through them and break in alone. While the results on this were a bit of a mixed bag, I thought he was still able to utilize his skill in an effective manner to impact the game in some fashion. I thought he did a good job as a puck carrier in transition to invite pressure towards him before spinning off a check and making a pass in motion to a streaking teammate. He scored the game first goal after making a hard drive to the net, corralling a pass in his feet, kicking it up to his blade and depositing it into the back of the net.

I really liked what I saw from Arsenault in the first twenty minutes of play, even if I thought he fizzled out as the game went on. He was Québec White’s best player in the first period, showcasing a good combination of effort and skill by breaking up breakout attempts in the offensive and making quick and accurate reads to an open teammate. He had an excellent assist on Québec’s first goal where he showed off a high level of compete and offensive intelligence. He made a quick pre-scan to the front of the net before hustling to gain inside possession on a defender, then throwing a quick backhand pass right on the tape of a teammate who buried it. The latter half of the game saw him try to rely on his skill level too much, forcing plays and dekes into traffic which resulted in a loss of possession for Québec.