2025 QMJHL Draft

Big Daddie

Registered User
Dec 12, 2022
35
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Well please tell me how you get a better education in many of the small American cities in the USHL...
Most people don't realize how piecemeal the high school education these kids actually get . In school for half days and on the road for days , just how does an average kid survive in this situation . Having worked in the education field , I saw how many really good kids struggled and had difficulties with their courses and they were in school every day all day !!! We are seeing many kids going to prep schools where education is paramount and they also play a very high level of hockey . Many get committed to D1 schools but are required to play Junior A before going to university . If you really think having a teacher travel with Major junior teams can make a difference , just think of the variety of courses players take . How could one human being really have any major influence on these students . When you understand that one in every 100 major junior players every makes it to the NHL , you will have a better understanding why so many kids decide to opt for the eduction path instead ,In reality , education is going to be how they earn a living . Not to mention that it has to be more difficult to start your education at 21 or 22 years of age . Eric Lindros , when asked what his biggest regret was , said that he wished he had gone to university instead of major junior . Many of his friends went that way and over four years, built such close friendships that lasted a lifetime . He felt that because of his talent . he still would have made it in pro hockey , With the upcoming change in NCAA rules , many more players will be opting for the D1 route and I guess you can't blame them !!!
 
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Big Daddie

Registered User
Dec 12, 2022
35
16
so far I see a top 20 like this...but i never got a great look at some of the french guys as much i would like:

  1. Alexis Joseph—Phenix 18AAA 6’03/185 39 25 28 53
  2. James Scantlebury—F—Bishop 14U 5’09/152 55 64 66 130
  3. Thomas Charbonneau—D—Shattuck U14 6’01/161 26 07 12 19
  4. Luca Desjardins—F—Seacoast 14U 5’11/168 67 51 99 150
  5. Nolann Heroux—F—Seigneurs U15 5’08/141 26 34 36 70
  6. Sam Berthiaume—G—Truro 6’03/165 04 02 1.94 .941
  7. Louis-Etenne Halley—F—Seigneurs U15 0’00/000 26 37 31 68
  8. Zack Arsenault—F—Quebec U15 5’11/166 29 43 28 71
  9. Caleb Adams—D—Mount St Charl. 14U 6’00/185 52 03 17 20
  10. Matys St-Gelais—F—Seacoast 14U 5’10/187 64 61 54 115
  11. Maxwell Branton—F—Pittsburgh Elite 14U 5’11/157 60 45 63 108
  12. Deryk Lemaire—F—Cascades U15 6’01/161 30 39 31 70
  13. Phenwick MacLean—F—Bedford 0’00/000 13 17 12 29
  14. Zakary Horvat-Edouard—F—National 5’06/146 29 33 50 83
  15. Antoine Provencher—F—Dynamiques M17 0’00/000 10 03 05 08
  16. Elliot Bibeau-Rivard—F—Noir M15 5’11/134 32 30 23 53
  17. Justin Beaulieu—D—Quebec M15 5’09/134 30 06 18 24
  18. Brock Lyons—F—KV Kings U15 0’00/000 30 43 31 74
  19. Jayden Pominille—F—Pionniers U15 5’05/115 30 21 35 56
  20. Jeremy Quevillon—D—Citadelles U15 5’11/150 26 07 23 30
Just happened to take a closer look at the above list and noticed that there were only two players listed as playing U18 AAA HOCKEY . How can you compare kids who play solely against 15 year olds to kids (15 ) who play against 17 and 18 year olds . There is NO comparison !!! How much harder is it to play against bigger , stronger and more experienced players ???? Amassing huge numbers in U14 or U15 is not quite the same as trying to score in a U18 league !!!
 

kyle44

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Jan 7, 2007
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Just happened to take a closer look at the above list and noticed that there were only two players listed as playing U18 AAA HOCKEY . How can you compare kids who play solely against 15 year olds to kids (15 ) who play against 17 and 18 year olds . There is NO comparison !!! How much harder is it to play against bigger , stronger and more experienced players ???? Amassing huge numbers in U14 or U15 is not quite the same as trying to score in a U18 league !!!
I'm not sure what you're getting at here. This information is from last year when the kids were all Bantam age, and they all played the equivalent of Bantam in their respective area except for Alexis Joseph, who was granted permission to play U18 as a 14-year old due to his ability and who is ranked number 1 on the list. It's not like most of these kids had a choice to play anything other than U15.
 

Rinkthoughts

Registered User
Mar 10, 2020
16
2
In my opinion I think that is too basic a way of looking at with regards to development which is not how good scouts and teams rank players (parents on social media that's a whole other story haha) . Yes, playing against older kids/young men will show how that player is developing with regards to playing against kids with more experience and it is impressive when these players do well (I'm leaving Joseph out of this conversation as I feel he is an outlier and a special player regardless of where he plays.

The kids that dominated U15 are usually the ones who get the opportunity to play prep or single age group in the US/GTHL/OMHA where they join programs that have pro style facilities and programs that help develop players and prepare them to perform at the next level . For example a kid who dominated U15 and is now in the states playing at a pro rink, practices 4 times week , off ice, skills training , mental coaching playing against the best of his age group is not going to be ranked lower because he isn't playing AAA in Quebec .

Scouts have a tough job to do and they have to factor lots of things when grading a player . For the record i don't agree with a lot of the rankings on the list that was posted but its not just because they are playing at their own birth year but that's part personal bias for me i'm sure .

Rankings will change and I'm sure this whole NCAA/CHL thing will cause a stir but a the end of the day the teams usually mostly get it right at the end of the year. Most of the kids drafted will come out of Quebec AAA and there will be a few kids that get missed for various reasons.
 
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scoutman1

Twitter - scoutman33
Feb 19, 2005
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Just happened to take a closer look at the above list and noticed that there were only two players listed as playing U18 AAA HOCKEY . How can you compare kids who play solely against 15 year olds to kids (15 ) who play against 17 and 18 year olds . There is NO comparison !!! How much harder is it to play against bigger , stronger and more experienced players ???? Amassing huge numbers in U14 or U15 is not quite the same as trying to score in a U18 league !!!
There is a comparison, i been doing this gig for a for LONG time, just because a kid is playing a level up against older kids does not mean that you can not assess these players....your looking at their skating, positioning, IQ, ability to make plays, two way....you might have a kid play U18 that is 6'02 but skates choppy, and does not play great two way and have a guy playing very well a level down that plays his butt off, has skill and is a great skater...when comparing your making an educated guess at that time how i think players are ranked on talent.

sometimes playing a level up does not give you the ability to work on weaknesses in your game because you are trying to play your offensive game that got you to where your at rather than work on your weakness. It is not easy for scouts to do anything with accuracy in this business and it is all left to educated guesses....
 

Big Daddie

Registered User
Dec 12, 2022
35
16
Just wondering if anyone got to watch the Q Cup in Moncton this past weekend and what you think of the quality of players who participated ?
 

hockeysystems

Registered User
Oct 18, 2024
1
0
Just wondering if anyone got to watch the Q Cup in Moncton this past weekend and what you think of the quality of players who participated ?
A lot of very impressive players especially on the New Brunswick and Nova Scotia teams. I think the most impressive player in the tournament was easily Sam Berthiaume, team Nova Scotia had no business winning the tournament with the absolute onslaught of offence that came their way from New Brunswick, but Berthiaume put on a a stellar performance. Very impressive prospect.
 

Big Daddie

Registered User
Dec 12, 2022
35
16
A lot of very impressive players especially on the New Brunswick and Nova Scotia teams. I think the most impressive player in the tournament was easily Sam Berthiaume, team Nova Scotia had no business winning the tournament with the absolute onslaught of offence that came their way from New Brunswick, but Berthiaume put on a a stellar performance. Very impressive prospect.
Like beauty , what is impressive in hockey is in the eye of the beholder lol !!! I agree that there were many impressive players on the NS and NB teams and that Berthiaume was probably the strongest goalie there but I totally disagree that there was an onslaught of offence by NB in either game . NB did look like they may have been practicing a little more than NS in the first game but they were completely outplayed in the second period of that first game . The game was basically a 3-2 game with an empty net goal to finish the game . In the second game , NS looked like these kids were finally getting accustomed to playing together and they were very impressive scoring on their first shift . I heard several scouts talking about how strong NS looked after that first period . In a five game series , I feel NS would win 3 out of 5 because their forward lines were all very strong and any line could be a first line . They were especially strong down the middle . Their d men were also extremely mobile and made great breakout passes . So if you combine this with above average goaltending , I don't think the word "onslaught" would ever be used to describe the tempo of either game but certainly not the final game !!! Once again , the eye of the beholder is important here lol .
 

IHaveNoCreativity

Registered User
May 5, 2012
12,738
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Somewhere in Quebec.
Like beauty , what is impressive in hockey is in the eye of the beholder lol !!! I agree that there were many impressive players on the NS and NB teams and that Berthiaume was probably the strongest goalie there but I totally disagree that there was an onslaught of offence by NB in either game . NB did look like they may have been practicing a little more than NS in the first game but they were completely outplayed in the second period of that first game . The game was basically a 3-2 game with an empty net goal to finish the game . In the second game , NS looked like these kids were finally getting accustomed to playing together and they were very impressive scoring on their first shift . I heard several scouts talking about how strong NS looked after that first period . In a five game series , I feel NS would win 3 out of 5 because their forward lines were all very strong and any line could be a first line . They were especially strong down the middle . Their d men were also extremely mobile and made great breakout passes . So if you combine this with above average goaltending , I don't think the word "onslaught" would ever be used to describe the tempo of either game but certainly not the final game !!! Once again , the eye of the beholder is important here lol .

The beholder is a long time scout who has been spot on with more kids than years your kid has been alive.
 

Rinkthoughts

Registered User
Mar 10, 2020
16
2
My opinion only but after watching the games only thing really changed for me is that Jax Ginnish is now challenging for top D.

D
Ginnish
Norman
Dunlop
You could make a case for all 3 being number one as they all offer something a little different. Norman has the best edges and a year in the GTHL should take some of the "do too much out of him " Ginnish was a real eye opener and will be watched a ton while in my opinion Dunlop has probably been the most consistent D man in this age group over the past 3 years .

Forwards
Veitch
Schnarr
Sercerchi
Welsh
Maclean

Great group of forwards but still have Veitch at the top due to his ability to create offence while playing that power forward game that teams love at the next level. Schnarr has the potential and def has the size to be a top pick and by the looks of the video they both seem to be still growing haha. Maclean is a pure goal scorer with good size and pedigree while I felt Sercerchi and Welsh were probably the best overall at this tournament, Still very early and rankings could change but will be nice to see them all with top tier players at the next portion of the Q Cup.

Berthiaume

He has out played everyone in his age group in Atlantic Canada in my opinion and will be a top pick to a very lucky team in the Q .
 

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