Projection: Top-Six Center

Strengths: Puck Management, Off-Puck Spacing, Middle-Oriented Attacker

Development Opportunities: Strength, Hone Offensive Creativity

Provencher has been one of the highest trajectory players for me throughout the year. He has constantly proved me wrong on my analysis of him, as I saw him more as a good complimentary asset, and as turned himself into a full playdriving pivot down the middle of the ice. He loves to attack the middle of the ice in transition, possessing the puck skills to operate in tight quarters to draw pressure towards him then kicking it outside before driving the net. His understanding of space is very advanced for a player age, especially off the rush where he consistently gets himself into seams that makes it easier for the puck-carrier to send passes his way before showcasing his quick release upon reception that makes him a one touch threat to score. All of his puck touches in the offensive zone are very calculated and sound, consistently putting pucks where only his linemates can get them and helping extend cycle sequences as a consequence of that.

There’s not much to nitpick in Provencher’s game, given all the details and maturity he possesses on both ends of the rink. However, if he wants to continue to grow as an offensive player I think adding a layer of deception to his playmaking could help him be that much better as an on-puck threat. He’s already a pretty strong kid as well, but as he continues to enhance his game along the perimeter and make him that much more effective as a cycle player as well.

Provencher was the main offensive catalyst for Team Bergeron, finishing with the team lead in scoring with 4 points in 3 games. All 3 of his goals came in the very first game of the tournament, where I thought he flashed some impressive finishing ability around the net using both his frame and puck skills to win pucks and maneuver in tight spaces. The offense did dry up as the tournament went along, but it certainly wasn’t for a lack of trying on his part. More than a handful of times he was able to string together plays in transition by executing one touch feeds in the neutral zone that hit teammates in stride and allowed them to enter the offensive zone with speed.

Despite not dominating the scoresheet throughout the tournament with just 3 points in 5 games, I still thought Provencher had some really high-end offensive moments that convinced me he’s one of the more intriguing prospects to come out of Québec this year. He’s not necessarily a play driver on any line he plays on, but you’d be hard pressed to find a more effective complimentary draft-eligible player this year. He’s so effective at utilizing his teammates off the rush by connecting plays with hard and accurate feeds through seams that allow his linemates to attack the zone with speed. Off-puck in transition he may be one of the smartest players in the draft, consistently timing his routes and controlling his speed accordingly to get himself into open space to receive passes in dangerous areas. He plays a powerful game in the offensive zone as well, demonstrating a combination of power and puck skills to extend his touches along the perimeter and make hard cuts to the middle of the ice to generate chances for himself and his teammates.

The small details of Provencher’s game are what made him standout to me every now and again throughout camp. Whether it’s a subtle stick lift along the perimeter to get a teammate’s pass through a defender or a smartly timed route to the front of the net, Provencher definitely has a lot more maturity to his game than most prospects his age. He was consistently the first one back on the backcheck for his team, either using his frame or a stick check to get the puck carrier off stride and make a quick play up the ice to get the transition game going the other way. I really liked Provencher’s game in small areas where he was able to leverage his quick stickhandling ability to get pucks around defenders and make intelligent short area passes before making a drive to the net looking to generate chances from inside.

Provencher had himself an impressive performance playing alongside Horvat-Édouard, potting 3 goals and just generally being efficient on nearly every puck touch. He was working well off the cycle by making quick reads and getting pucks to open teammates with pace, which at times lead to confusion among Ontario’s defensive structure and helped create scoring chances in the middle of the ice. His shooting ability was on full display in this game as well, hammering a one-timer from the circle on the powerplay for his teams 4th goal of the game. His second goal of the game came off a 2v1 where he opted to shoot and snapped a puck over the goaltenders’ blocker with impressive accuracy and velocity. The hat-trick goal came late in the game when he executed a drop pass off the rush, skated to the middle of the ice and fired a quick one-timer over the goaltenders glove from the mid-slot area.

Provencher was doing everything he could to help facilitate his teams transition game, making quick decisions with the puck in the neutral zone and executing one touch feeds that allowed his teammates to attack with speed through the middle of the ice. His puck touches were few and far between in this one, as were the rest of his teams, but he did make one great play late in the game when he took a puck along the boards, made a hard cut off the wall to carve through multiple defenders and earn himself a shot from down low in the slot area.

It wasn’t necessarily a dominant showing at 5v5 for Provencher despite the hat-trick performance, although he still showed some of the strong complimentary habits and traits, I’ve seen all season long. He made a number of one touch feeds in both the neutral and offensive zone, which generated puck touches for his linemates in the middle of the ice and even lead to a few scoring chances. The most impressive of his goals came late in the first when he took a pass in the neutral zone, shielded the puck from a defender as he attacked downhill and snapped a puck in motion that beat the goaltender cleanly on a semi-breakaway.

Provencher’s mature and detailed approach to the game are what made me want to highlight his performance in this contest. He started off slow but really came alive in the final frame, playing effectively off the cycle by shielding pucks from defenders as he traversed the perimeter and distributed pucks to open teammates that lead to extended offensive zone sequences. His ability to escape pressure was notable as well, using his frame to spin off checks and work his way into space to extend his puck touches in the offensive zone. He had a great effort play late in the game where he hustled back on the backcheck and broke up a 2v1 before moving the puck up quickly to initiate a counterattack.