Carrier was the defender who was the most engaged on both ends of the ice for Team Talbot throughout the course of the tournament. He’s a very aggressive defender who was always looking to kill plays before they could materialize, which lead to a few jarring open ice hits in the neutral zone as he anticipated where the outlet pass was going to go. He made a few nice stops with his stick as well, combining strong backwards skating and proper timing to stick with puck-carriers, force them to the outside and poke pucks loose to initiate counterattacks up ice. He was activating quite frequently as well, always looking to jump into space both off the rush and down from the offensive blueline to get himself into scoring areas and generate looks for himself. I liked his work on defensive zone retrievals as well where he would box out forecheckers to win the race back to the puck and make quick plays up the boards to his wingers.

I’ve been watching Carrier for well over a year now and I think his play at this event was the best I’ve seen out of him throughout that time. His archetype as a physically mature defensive defenseman is extremely projectable, as he combines a well-rounded toolkit with an aggressive mindset to make plenty of stops both off the rush and in-zone. He does this by either anticipating play and stepping up in the neutral zone to break up plays or force dump-ins or utilizing his reach to close in quickly on attackers along the perimeter, maintaining a strong gap and giving them little to no space to operate. Something different I saw here was a newfound confidence to carry the puck up ice, sometimes beating a forechecker in the neutral zone with a swift deke to gain the offensive zone before dishing it to the outside and driving the net. He still has a few bobbling issues, especially on cross-ice receptions which can sometimes kill his team’s momentum in transition, but he has continued to make strides in that regard and I only expect it to improve as he continues to progress.

Carrier is a physically mature and defensively stout defender who makes strong plays in his own end that contribute to exit plays. He uses his frame to box out forecheckers on his retrievals before making short deferral passes to his defensive partner to initiate the breakout. I thought he was using his size effectively to kill cycle plays along the perimeter as well by leaning on opposing forwards and removing them from the puck. When the play broke down in front of him, he showed an awareness and a willingness to skate the puck out on his own for a controlled exit before dishing off to a forward in transition.

I thought Carrier was Québec White’s most consistent and reliable defender throughout the course of the tournament. At 6’0 and 163 lbs he already possesses a physically mature frame that bodes well with his style of play. Whether it was at even strength or on the penalty kill, he did a great job of getting his stick into passing lanes and thwarting any high-danger pass attempts from the opposition. His puck-moving ability was very noticeable as well, making hard and accurate outlet passes to teammates in stride. He demonstrated a good understanding of pressure on retrievals or on regroups by putting pucks to areas where only his teammates could get it and not forcing plays to congested areas under duress. He was using his frame effectively to box out forecheckers with the puck on his stick, making some slick one handed passes up ice in the process. From the point he’s always looking to change the angles of his release in order to get shots through on the goaltender. His puck-handling ability is still a work in progress as there were a few bobbles upon some receptions, but he has time to work out the kinks for his draft-eligible season next year.

Kicking off our list is an Eastern Canadian out of the QM15AAA league. Yoan Carrier was noticeable via his physical play from the blueline, and stimy defensive play. His positioning was on point, along with his ability to quick turn and track the puck as it made its way around the offensive zone. Accurate in his stick checks, he intercepted and deflected several passes in his defensive end, denying potential high danger scoring chances before they even happened. When rebounds came about near the crease, he did a great job boxing out opponents with some solid strength and swatting the rebound out of harms way. His physical play continued as he defended the defensive blueline, landing some hard bodychecks and denying the zone entry. Carrier wasn’t the quickest skater out there, but he was mobile for his size, and always seemed to position himself properly to defend.

Carrier was asserting himself all over the ice by applying himself physically on the defensive side of things and jumping into the play at the other end of the ice. I noted a few times where he timed his step ups well at the defensive blueline to catch a puck-carrier off guard, deny a zone entry by knocking him off the puck and making a quick short area pass to a teammate to initiate a counterattack. He delivered a huge check in the neutral zone in the second period that thwarted the other teams transition up the ice and sent play going the other way. Carrier contributed offensively in this game as well, joining a rush late in the third period and deflecting a puck on a backdoor pass that made it’s way into the yawning cage.

Carrier’s subtle yet notable plays at both ends of the rink were really able to showcase his sound two-way game. He was active inside the offensive zone, picking the right spots to come down from the blue line when he saw open space and demonstrating quick decision-making with the puck at the blue line which resulted in quality shot attempts for himself and others through fast puck movement. On the defensive side of the puck, he gapped up quite well off the rush combining strong skating with a good defensive stick to keep plays to the outside during transitional play.

Carrier’s progression has been very interesting to watch this year and his newfound confidence with the puck and offensive acumen were definitely on display in this game. His best work in this game from the point in the offensive zone where he was consistently able to get pucks on net with hard and accurate shooting and even displayed some vision to execute downhill seam passes that lead to dangerous chances. He scored his team’s second goal of the game by rifling a perfect shot from the point that found its way through traffic into the top left corner. He did a good job of utilizing his frame to lean on puck-carriers along the perimeter, angling them off and utilizing his stick to knock pucks loose. He still has bobbling issues on both retrievals and receptions, but overall, I think this game made me optimistic about him as a QMJHL prospect.

Although he’s not as offensively inclined as some of the other defenders at this camp, it was Carrier’s stout play in his own end that made him a standout player in this game. I liked the way he was using his frame to lean on opposing forwards along the perimeter, taking away their time and space and dislodging the puck in the process. He was also using his frame to box out forecheckers on his retrievals to win the battle for the puck and make crisp outlet passes to his wingers. Carrier also showed he could use his skating to his advantage in the defensive zone by skating the puck out for a controlled exit whenever his passing options were exhausted in front of him.

Carrier is making an early case for being Québec White’s most consistent and effective defender early on. He was showing some confident puck-handling ability early on, using his hands to split between two forecheckers and move the puck up to a teammate. Yet again he was using his size and reach to strip attackers of the puck or force them towards low-danger areas. He scored Québec’s second goal of the game off a hard and accurate point shot. I actually liked how he often changed the angle of his shots to get it through a sea of defenders and on net for a scoring chance. He’s still prone to a few overhandles of the puck, although it wasn’t as much of a problem in this game.

Carrrier was one of the bright spots for Québec white with his mature defensive game and poised decision-making. He was using his long reach effectively in the defensive zone to block passing lanes and stick check opposing attackers. He showed flashes of good puck-moving ability by making efficient and quick reads on breakouts. He demonstrated a good understanding and anticipation of pressure on defensive zone retrievals, while also using his above-average frame to thwart off forecheckers. His puck-handling ability leaves a bit to be desired, as there were a few bobbles that resulted in turnovers.