The beginning of September officially kicked off the beginning of the 2025 QMJHL Draft campaign with all the U18 AAA leagues of Eastern Canada getting underway, along with the Canadian Prep School circuit and plenty of draft-eligible players suiting up south of the border. To go along with this article, we have also released a top-10 preliminary ranking, which is based on the plethora of viewings I’ve received on these players dating back at least a year now. Obviously, as the list continues to grow and expand there will be many changes that come along with it, even including at the top end of the draft. The purpose of this piece isn’t to plant our foot in the ground and proclaim that we have already found the best draft-eligible players, rather it is to be as transparent in the process as possible so that our audience, new and old alike, not necessarily agree but understand the reason why I would have player X over play Y, and also perhaps get a understanding of what you can expect from our in depth coverage throughout the year.
Expanding our Coverage
With this being my second year covering the QMJHL Draft for PuckPreps, I can say with much confidence that I am much more prepared and knowledgeable about this year’s class heading in than I was last year. The obvious reason being that last year I only started working on the draft in late September with absolutely no prior knowledge on who the top players were, the leagues I should focus on and what the major events were throughout the year. Having been watching a large majority of these players for well over a couple of months now, I feel much more confident in my assessments of them and have a much larger watchlist to begin the season.
One thing I noticed at the draft last year was how many players were drafted out of the M17 AAA Québec league. Admittedly, this was a serious blind spot for me in terms of my evaluations of players. I had gotten to see quite a bit of them at the second phase of the QMJHL Cup and a handful at the QMJHL combine in April; although this only really amounted to having watched 3-4 games of players who had gone in the first 5-6 rounds of the draft. My goal this season is to watch at least 2-3 games per month while also trying to cover the major M17 tournaments as a whole so as to get a better footing on the league as a whole.
Another league I want to get a better look at this year is the CSSHLE U18 and U17 circuits, both which contain some impressive 2009-born players for this season. Last season there wasn’t much high-end prospects coming out of the league so I never really made it a priority, so I’m excited that the abundance of talent and high-end prospects will naturally gravitate me towards it and, in turn, expand our coverage in the process.
Overview of Events
I just wanted to highlight some of the events we’ll be covering throughout the year so that our new readers can get an idea of what to expect. The first major event for us is the first phase of the QMJHL Cup in October, where all four of the Atlantic provinces send their bests 2009-born prospects to compete against one another in a round-robin/playoff format. This was a great litmus test for us last year and really helped us gauge the overall strength of the Atlantic draft class while also helping us identify some of the top players from each region. Sticking with the Atlantic regions for a second, two very important events that we cover extensively are the Monctonian and the East Coast IceJam, which are playing November and January, respectively. We also hope to get some game reports out from the Nova Scotia, Newfoundland and New Brunswick/PEI league this year.
For Québec, the CCM Challenge goes on mid-December and incorporates every Québec M18 club along with a handful of Maritimes and Ontario U18 teams in what is probably the largest tournament of the year. The second phase of the QMJHL Cup goes on at the same time where two Québec U15 all-star teams (2026 Q draft-eligible players) are pitted against four M17 and High School all-star teams. We were able to cover both of these events last season and I hope to do the same this year, albeit more extensively. The home stretch of our 2025 Q Draft coverage will be the third and final leg of the QMJHL Cup in April, where two Atlantic All-Star teams and four Québec All-Star teams will be placed in a tournament style format as a showcase for QMJHL brass and scouts. Like I said previously as well, I would also like to cover at least one of the major M17 tournaments that occur throughout the year, but this will rely on whether I have the time and if there is a stream available. We will also be producing game reports for the M18 and M17 levels throughout the year.
2025 QMJHL Draft Rankings: Preliminary Top-10
I wanted to release a top-10 ranking early on just to give our readers an idea of where my head was at pertaining to my analysis of the 2009-born Eastern Canadian class, but also a frame of reference for myself for when at the end of the year this list looks totally different. I’ve found it quite easy to be hard on yourself while doing this, beating yourself up for having a player too high or too low, but at the end of the day these players are constantly growing (literally and figuratively) and evolving their games throughout the course of the year; being spot on about the draft in September would imply some form of clairvoyance on the part of the scout, which sadly I do not possess. At the end of the day this is my ranking on a group of select players who have a ton of development runway left before their names are eventually called on draft day, but that shouldn’t stop us from constantly watching, evaluating, digging into data and believing in your own process and philosophy.
At this point of the year, I think there are two players who have separated themselves from the rest of the pack and who have put themselves into a tier of their own; namely, James Scantlebury (1st) and Alexis Joseph (2nd). This placement may cause some ire among QMJHL fans and scouts alike, seeing as this draft has seemed to have been unanimously dubbed “The Alexis Joseph Draft”, and for good reason as well. At 6’3 and 185 lbs Joseph possesses all the skill and size you could want out of a 15-year-old hockey player. He was one of the best players at the M18 level last season at 14, putting up 53 points in 39 games and looks poised to be one of, if not the best player in the league this year. I just wanted to get it out there that me having Joseph at 2 does not infer I disagree with the consensus of him being a franchise altering player for the team that gets to draft him, in fact I see it more as a 1A and 1B scenario more than anything. The fact of the matter is, I just think Scantlebury is a very special player. He’s playing up a year for the BK Selects 16U squad and through all my viewings has been their best player by a fair margin. The combination of dynamic skating, puck skills and shooting ability to go along with a relentless motor have made him a favorite of the PuckPreps scouting group, and he’s only gotten better with each passing game. The difficult thing with this is that, for all intents and purposes, it seems that Scantlebury will not be reporting to the QMJHL and will instead opt to go the NCAA route, while Joseph seems primed to be the first overall pick regardless of what happens the rest of the year. Ultimately, my job is not to predict what will happen on draft day, but rather compile a list of who I would be comfortable drafting if there were no parameters set on these players. Right now, I have Scantlebury ahead of Joseph by the slightest of margins and I fully expect the two of them to battle it out for the number one spot all season long.
Two Québec defenders cracked our top-10 as well in Malik L’Italien (3rd) and Thomas Charbonneau (5th). L’Italien has been the best defenseman every time this 2009-born group has gotten together and has even cracked Stanstead’s U18 Varsity squad as the only draft-eligible player on the team. Charbonneau will be suiting up for Shattuck St-Mary’s 15U squad this year and is off to a hot start offensively with 12 points in 7 games from the backend. Both rearguards have been consistent favorites of mine every time I’ve seen them play and I look forward to tracking their development throughout the year.
The only two Atlantic players to crack our initial top-10 are New Brunswick’s Dominic Schnarr (6th) and Newfoundland’s Benjamin Veitch (7th). At 6’4 and 202 lbs, Schnarr already possesses an above-average junior hockey frame to go along with high-end offensive skills and processing ability. He was the best player at the New Brunswick’s HPP camp this summer and was named to Bishop’s College U18 Varsity team as the only 2009-born player. Veitch is a 6’1 and 191 lbs forward playing for the York-Simcoe Express of the OMHA U16 league this season. He possesses all the tools and the frame to be an impact player at the next level, and I’ve already heard some glowing reviews of him from our Ontario scout Jordan Malette. He was also the best player at his provinces HPP camp and could end up higher on our list come seasons end.
The rest of our list is rounded out by a slew of Québec-born forwards, namely Zack Arsenault (4th), Malik Desrochers (8th), Zakary Horvat-Edouard (9th) and Nolann Héroux (10th). Arsenault is off to a torrid start to his draft campaign with 9 points in 5 games and looks to be one of deadlier shooters in the entire draft class. Desrochers also possesses lethal scoring ability, with tremendous shooting mechanics in motion that allow him to be a consistent scoring threat off the rush which has been a crucial part of his success early on in the season. Horvat-Edouard is a shorter yet stocky forward who is one of the more creative playmakers off the rush and possesses some of the best hands in the entire class thus far that allow him to gain access to dangerous areas of the ice. Héroux has probably had the slowest start production wise among this group, but the high-end skating and his ability to create offense off the forecheck has given me a very positive outlook on his development.
An Early Look at the Québec Class
I’ve heard for a while now that the 2009-born Québec class was a strong one, and early one they seem to be exceeding even the loftiest of expectations. Aside from the players we previously mentioned, some players to keep an eye out for include Louis-Étienne Halley, teammates Jérémi Duclos-Claude and Elliot Bibeau-Rivard (who also play for St Hyacinthe with Desrochers) and Jayden Pominville. Halley is a 6’3 and 183 lbs forward with strong power forward capabilities and playmaking instincts that make him a threat below the dots in the offensive zone. Duclos-Claude is an intelligent two-way centerman who finds the soft spots in the offensive zone and makes smart plays with the puck in all three zones. Bibeau-Rivard is one of the fastest skaters early on in this draft class, which allows him to be an effective puck-carrier through the neutral zone and drive play for his team. Pominville plays alongside Alexis Joseph in Esther-Blondin and is one of the smarter players in the draft. At 5’5 and 115 lbs the projection to junior hockey is a bit trickier than most, but the skill level is undeniable.
I also wanted to highlight a few defenders playing out of the province this year. Louis-Félix Guay is yet another intriguing prospect coming out of St Hyacinthe this year, with an abundance of offensive tools that make him a threat in transition and a strong powerplay quarterback. Félix Guérard is a 6’4 and 174 lbs rearguard who is off to a hot start production wise with 5 assists in 7 games. The skill and size combination will certainly be intriguing to QMJHL teams and it will be interesting to see how he progresses throughout the year. Jacob Labranche and Justin Beaulieu are two defenders from the Séminaire St-François Blizzard who have caught my eye early on. They’re both a tad bit undersized, but Labranche already looks to be one of the better puck-movers early on while Beaulieu’s rush defending and skating ability have helped him translate seamlessly to the M18 level.
An Early Look at the Nova Scotia Class
I found it tough to get a read on the Nova Scotian class after their HPP Camp with some of the top U15 producers underperforming, but after the first month of league play has come and gone I feel like the dust has settled on who some of the top prospects are. Halifax McDonald’s defenseman Jax Ginnish is one of the more intriguing prospects from the Maritimes this year, and while the production isn’t quite there yet, he possesses all the tools to become one of the better offensive defensemen in the U18 circuit by the end of the year. Tanner Hayden of the Weeks Majors is off to a hot start to his draft year with 10 points in 6 games and I’m excited to see what role he takes on when he suits for Nova Scotia at the upcoming QMJHL Cup. Diminutive yet highly skilled forward Tucker Sinclair is another player who I think can really take off this year if things break right for him. He’s the best player on a Sydney Rush team that has struggled thus far but could make some serious noise with a strong QMJHL Cup performance. Duncan Anderson, playing for South Kent Selects 15O, is another defender I would highlight for his overall aggressiveness and intriguing offensive ability. He couldn’t participate at the recently held USHL Fall Classic, but I intend on getting plenty of more viewings of them throughout the year. Another Nova Scotian who took his talents south of the border is Sam Ryan, who is currently playing for Boston Hockey Academy 15U and is off to a strong start with 13 points in 13 games.
The Steele Subaru are going to be a team to watch for draft-eligible players as well with Phenwick MacLean, Calvin Carver, Justyce Johnson and Travis Tremblay suiting up for them this year, among others.
An Early Look at the New Brunswick Class
The 2009-born New Brunswick already looks much stronger than last year with the aforementioned Schnarr and a few high-end names in Jesse Dunlap, Marc MacPhee and Jacob Veilleux. Dunlap is a smaller offensive defender playing for Rothesay Netherwood this year who was my favorite defenseman at the provinces HPP camp this summer. The results from the games I saw of him for RN this year were a bit mixed, but I look forward to watching him play a big role at the QMJHL Cup in Moncton. I really liked MacPhee at HPP camp and the results early on in the U18 circuit seem promising with 6 points in 4 games. He’s a speedy and highly skilled forward who I think with the right development can be rival Schnarr as the best forward prospect out of the province if he continues to develop. At 6’6 and 180 lbs, Veilleux is going to be a huge (literally) topic of discussion among scouts and fans throughout the year. The combination of size and offensive instincts is rare, especially among defenseman his age and, even if the current product is a bit raw, I would say he has one of the highest ceilings out of anyone from the Atlantic provinces.
An Early Look at the Newfoundland Class
The Newfoundland class is an interesting one this year, as even without Veitch I’d say they have a lot of intriguing prospects that could enter first-round consideration. Although he played most of his minor hockey in Nova Scotia, Maxwell Branton is a name to keep an eye on early on. He put up 108 points in 60 games for the Pittsburgh Penguins Elite 14U squad last season and it seems he made the jump to the GTHL this year where he’ll suit up for the Toronto Marlboros U16. Quinn Norman is another player from the province who made the jump to the GTHL this year where he’ll suit up for the Vaughan Kings. The smooth-skating defender put up 48 points in 29 games in the U15 circuit last year and has looked really strong in my early viewings of him this season. Cameron Haye is a player I really liked at the recent USHL Fall Classic while playing for South Kent’s 15U squad. He’s a very versatile and skilled attacker who can beat defenders in a multitude of ways and someone who I will strongly consider having in my first-round when the time comes.
An Early Look at the PEI Class
I’ll admit I haven’t really indulged myself in the 2009-born PEI class as of yet, although I’ve caught glimpses of some of the high-end players here and there. Drew Murphy is definitely a name to keep an eye on this year, where he’ll suit up for the Kensington Wild after putting up 73 points in 33 points in the U15 PEI circuit last season. He’ll most likely be the catalyst for PEI at the upcoming QMJHL Cup. Caleb Adams is a large question mark for me right now, where after winning a 14U National Championship with Mount St Charles last season, he has since left the program, played a couple of preseason games for Kensington but has yet to be named to any teams roster thus far. He’s definitely the most touted defender to come out of the province this year but I can’t say I’ve gotten to see him in league play so far this season. He will be a player I keep an eye on once I found out where he’s playing.