Bourque had his coming out party at this year’s QMJHL Cup after playing quite low on the depth chart of a very strong Blizzard team throughout the year by earning himself a spot on the tournament all-star team. His speed was way more noticeable here than at any point throughout the year as he was gaining separation in the neutral zone as a puck carrier and driving wide around defenders trying to make a cut to the net for a scoring chance. At 6’0 and 188 lbs he was very difficult to knock off the puck in tight quarters, which allowed him prolonged possession time in the offensive zone as he circled around waiting for a play to develop. You could really see the confidence growing in his game the more puck touches he got which lead to some moments of offensive creativity off the rush, the likes of which we haven’t seen from him while playing for his club team.

I let Bourque fly under my radar for a bit this season, but I actually liked what I saw from him at this event. He’s a bigger forward who likes to engage himself on the forecheck, using his stick to break up opposing breakout attempts. He frequently made nice connecting plays in the neutral zones, hitting a teammate in stride with a deft one touch pass to spring the transition game. He was tasked with killing penalties throughout the tournament, where I thought he did a good job getting his body into shooting lanes and occupying seams with his stick. His puck touches weren’t super frequent, but I do like the way he bounces in and out of pockets of ice trying to make himself a passing target. Although the offence is limited, Bourque is a hard-working player with plenty of room to develop his game.

Bourque’s speed and large frame were a major factor for Team Lecavalier in their victory today. He was a big part of their four-goal swing in the second period, picking up a goal and an assist in just 27 seconds of play. His assist was quite impressive, when after he corralled a bad pass by kicking it from his stick to his blade made a nice backhand pass into the slot where Samuel Roy buried a quick shot for the Team Lecavalier goal. His goal demonstrated some good anticipation, as Bourque picked off an outlet attempt at the blueline, skated into space and fired a heavy and accurate shot over the goaltender’s left shoulder for the goal.