Projection: Top Six Winger

Projectable Skills: Spatial Awareness, Puck Control, Playmaking

Development Opportunities: Stride Mechanics, Shot Power

Florent might be the biggest boom or bust prospect in this entire class. In terms of offensive skill and intelligence, he’s right up there with the upper echelon of this year’s class. He barely bobbles pucks whether it be through a reception or a retrieval, as well as being able to corral bad passes in his feet, kick them up to his blade all in one motion while maintaining his fluidity. He’s constantly reading the body positioning of opposing defenders and using a series of quick cuts and changes of direction to exploit them and leave them flat footed. Florent has also shown the ability to thread passes through traffic and hit teammates in stride, which coincides well with just how quickly he’s able to read and react to the play around him. The way he’s able to adapt and reassess when the play breaks down in front of him is also rare among this draft class and helps him overcome most if not all his physical deficiencies at this level of hockey.

At 5’6 and 130 lbs there’s no argument against Florent being an undersized player. His size obviously affects what he’s able to do, most notably in his own zone and the power he’s able to generate in his shot. The biggest developmental hurdle for Florent will be to improve his stride mechanics, which is the reason I believe some public outlets have him low on their boards despite being one of the top scorers at the M18 circuit in Québec. As of now Florent’s skating deficiencies don’t allow him to gain separation in a straight line, which hinder his effectiveness as a puck carrier in transition. He’s found ways to succeed despite this deficiencies at the M18 level, the ultimate question for Florent is can he adapt at the junior level.

Florent finished as one of the more productive forwards for Team Brière, putting up 7 assists in 4 games and acting as the team’s primary puck distributor. His spatial awareness is what really set him apart at this event and helped him overcome his physical deficiencies (the size and skating have led him to drop in some rankings). He always seems to know where pressure is coming from while he has the puck on his stick by reading the position of his opponents feet to exploit their position, whether it be operating off the rush or along the perimeter in the offensive zone all it takes is a quick stickhandle to evade pressure and jump into space. He never seems to bobble a puck either, as his puck control allows him to maintain the puck and use his skill to get around defenders and into the interior. Florent possesses that special ability to corral a pass no matter where it ends up, as there were several times in this event where he was able to catch a puck in his feet and kick it up to his stick all in one motion to maintain possession.

Florent’s intelligence and spatial awareness are what made him an impactful player in this game. He was using his patented delay game off the rush to slow the game down so that he could pick apart Bourque’s defensive structure with slick passes or cuts to the middle of the ice. He made a great play in the second period when he stopped up in the offensive zone, brought the puck to the middle of the ice and fired a shot on net that was picked up and banged home on the rebound. His small area game was impressive for a player his size, using his quick stickhandling ability to evade pressure and move into space.