Lemaire wasn’t as effective as I thought he would be at this event, considering he was touted as one of the premiere prospects for this year’s draft. He finished with 1 goal in 4 games, but overall, I thought he played a strong complimentary role for whatever line he played on. He excelled at chasing down puck-carriers in the offensive zone, helping create turnovers and create puck touches for both himself and his linemates to extend offensive pressure. He made a handful of solid defensive plays in the neutral zone as well, poking pucks off defenders sticks and breaking into the offensive zone before funneling a pass to the middle of the ice to create a high-danger chance.

This tournament really helped sell me on Lemaire as a high-end prospect, leading the charge offensively with 10 points in 6 for the eventual finalists. He’s already quite physically developed at 6’1 and 187 lbs, which he often uses to create advantages for himself in the offensive zone by winning inside position against defenders to come out with the puck in 50/50 battles. He was supporting the puck so well for his teammates in the offensive zone, often acting as a close proximity passing option or creating a numbers advantage in puck battles to fish it out in case things went awry, which helped lead to extended possession time. I noted some strong on-puck moments as well when Lemaire would attack laterally off the rush, leveraging his frame and puck-skills to carve through the hands of defenders, shoulder them off and get shots off from the inside. His shot is a critical part of his offensive arsenal, combining a very quick release with plenty of velocity that makes him a threat to score all over the offensive zone. He’s able to get it off with some zip while catching and releasing in awkward situations, which helped him score some goals on plays that could’ve died on his stick if he wasn’t so adaptable.

Lemaire’s overwhelming size and skill combination are going to make him a highly intriguing QMJHL Draft prospect this season. While he will need to work on his shift-to-shift consistency, the highs for him at this event showcased hiss ability to take the puck himself and create chances on his own. He possesses the puck skills to make skilled retrievals in the neutral zone, pulling pucks toward him with one hand while maintain hiss stride and gaining the blueline in the process. Once he entered the zone he loved to attack through the hands of defenders, cut laterally and drive wide in order to either draw pressure towards him to create space on the opposite side or drive wide around them and cut to the net. Lemaire was also quite adept at utilizing give and go’s with teammates to get shots off from dangerous areas in the offensive zone by making feeds down below the goal line and drifting into a pocket of ice.

Lemaire displayed a bunch of projectability in his performance in this game, finishing with two primary assists while demonstrating a highly intelligent off-puck game while connecting plays in transition. He was great at supporting the play in the offensive zone throughout, taking efficient routes to loose pucks while lead to extended possession time for his line. His ability to read the play at a high level allowed him to anticipate and pick off passes in the offensive zone, either allowing him to get a quick shot off from a dangerous area or make a heads-up play to an open teammate. His work off-puck both off the rush and in-zone were very impressive as well, demonstrating the wherewithal to either speed up or slow down once he entered the zone to situate himself in an open area and make himself a prime passing option for the puck-carrier. He was also continuously getting himself open in the slot in the offensive zone, which also helped him generate looks for himself from the inside. His best play of the game came in the second period when he picked up a puck below the goal line, protect the puck with his head up and execute a backhand feed to the low slot for a primary assist.

Lemaire was executing his inside-driven attacking style much more frequently in this one, picking up two goals in the process. He was using his hands to get through defenders off the rush, allowing him to navigate through the middle of the ice and get shots off from dangerous areas. His speed was also a factor off the flank, as there were a few times he was able to get a step on defenders in order to make a hard cut to the net. His first goal of the game came off a good drive to the net, receive a puck in tight and show off a deceptive release while in stride to beat the goaltender. His second goal came on the powerplay where he was able to utilize a give and go sequence to drift into space and fire a low one timer to score from the inside hashmarks.