2025 QMJHL Draft

[scoutman1]

You realize that you are arguing with a former head scout lol

oh that is all good...all a scout is, is an educated guess lol...now that i do not scout anymore but do some free lance stuff...i do not get to travel as much.

 

[scoutman1]

Just wondering what was the basis for ranking these players ? Obviously it wasn't their stats so far this year . Also some of them have only played one or two games so far this year and you have them ranked very high in this list . You obviously must be using criteria from previous years . If you have played very few games and have no points so far , how do you qualify for the top 40 ???

this was based on limited viewing i had so far and a bunch of friends that are still scouts...and like i said, super early list and with lack of viewing in depth right now and players still getting use to U18 leagues this is going to change by a lot...im ranking on what i see in potential right now and i run it by my friends that are at tons of games in quebec right now...no team has made any trips to prep schools right now so with that i am going off what i saw this summer doing some stuff.

 

[scoutman1]

I find the qmjhl does an okay job with their forwards but their defenders and definitely their goalies suffer due to the high scoring style of the league. I also find the Q draft is like a lottery. Some teams seem to really care about there players like Halifax Drummondville and Rimouski, while a majority of other teams seem to abandon their players if they’re not immediately ready at 16 years old. Adding on to that the ncaa route gives more time for player to develop. If a player can produce at the major junior level at 16/17 then all power to them, but I’d argue most kids don’t fully hit their stride until much later. Also the entire chl schedule is extremely demanding. I understand pressure makes diamonds but you can see the wear and tear on a lot of these kids faces, most of them look like 35 year old men coming home from a 12 hour day in the mines. The NCAA season has 34 games compared to the 64 game qmjhl season. The less games allows them to get more reps in at practice, focus on their studies and gives them the opportunity to take care of their mental health before making the complete jump into the nhl. Lastly the resources that a player gets in the ncaa are flat out better. The workout facilities, nutritionists, sports psychologists and rinks are better in most cases. If you want results look no further than the last couple drafts. The past three years 23 ncaa/ushl players were drafted in the first round while only 1 player from the qmjhl has been drafted in the first round.

i will not deny that the QMJHL is crappy with defenders...your argument with the QMJHL being a super high scoring league well that was the past, now the gap is closed so much that the OHL is not far off....that said the goalies in the qmjhl where much better when it was more of an offensive league....your comparison of 1st rounders are really a non issue for development, the more games in the season really get the kids ready for whats ahead, the trainers and facilities to weight train and such are 2nd to none i know because i worked for many years as a scout for Gatineau in the QMJHL...the main thing for the QMJHL right now is not getting enough kids playing hockey in the province...i also think the same is happening to Nova Scotia as the talent level has gone way down...i know hockey schools in nova scotia are not getting the kids in them that they use to have and that probably has to do with buying power at an all time low....NCAA is attracting a lot of players but i do not see the maritimers or quebecers thriving down there (there are a few who thrive). For the amount that go down though who are thought to be good players when the U17s or U18s happen those players are no better than the guys who chose the U18 and CHL route. I point to many players i have personally seen go prep school route who never got used like they should have....I have seen guys come back to play QMJHL who went to play prep or USHL and they never got any better treatment than guys who played U18 in the province. When comparing NCAA to CHL well the CHL teams have great facilities to train, teams have multiple trainers, Dietitians, teachers who travel with the team, Doctors....I fail to see a difference...maybe it is just that you know one route more than the other?

 

[Big Daddie]

i will not deny that the QMJHL is crappy with defenders...your argument with the QMJHL being a super high scoring league well that was the past, now the gap is closed so much that the OHL is not far off....that said the goalies in the qmjhl where much better when it was more of an offensive league....your comparison of 1st rounders are really a non issue for development, the more games in the season really get the kids ready for whats ahead, the trainers and facilities to weight train and such are 2nd to none i know because i worked for many years as a scout for Gatineau in the QMJHL...the main thing for the QMJHL right now is not getting enough kids playing hockey in the province...i also think the same is happening to Nova Scotia as the talent level has gone way down...i know hockey schools in nova scotia are not getting the kids in them that they use to have and that probably has to do with buying power at an all time low....NCAA is attracting a lot of players but i do not see the maritimers or quebecers thriving down there (there are a few who thrive). For the amount that go down though who are thought to be good players when the U17s or U18s happen those players are no better than the guys who chose the U18 and CHL route. I point to many players i have personally seen go prep school route who never got used like they should have....I have seen guys come back to play QMJHL who went to play prep or USHL and they never got any better treatment than guys who played U18 in the province. When comparing NCAA to CHL well the CHL teams have great facilities to train, teams have multiple trainers, Dietitians, teachers who travel with the team, Doctors....I fail to see a difference...maybe it is just that you know one route more than the other?

The biggest advantage for the NCAA route is that at the end of four years , these guys leave with a university education which is probably going to be the source of their livelihood for the remainder of their lives . Recent information suggests that 1% of major junior players ever make it to the NHL .Ofcourse there are other levels of hockey out there and people can have great careers playing the game they love . Education is very fragmented for major junior hockey players and many never even complete high school . Good prep schools (not just hockey academies ) really prepare these guys for advanced education as well as possible advancement in their hockey careers . With the new NCAA rule changes , many more players will be able to explore the major junior route and still be able play D 1 hockey after a couple of years . The best of both worlds in my mind !!!

 

[scoutman1]

The biggest advantage for the NCAA route is that at the end of four years , these guys leave with a university education which is probably going to be the source of their livelihood for the remainder of their lives . Recent information suggests that 1% of major junior players ever make it to the NHL .Ofcourse there are other levels of hockey out there and people can have great careers playing the game they love . Education is very fragmented for major junior hockey players and many never even complete high school . Good prep schools (not just hockey academies ) really prepare these guys for advanced education as well as possible advancement in their hockey careers . With the new NCAA rule changes , many more players will be able to explore the major junior route and still be able play D 1 hockey after a couple of years . The best of both worlds in my mind !!!

I will say, I was a scout for many years in the QMJHL and players HAD to have good marks in school, we had teacher assistance travel with the team, the kids finished Highschool and University was fully paid for them if they played 2 years in the league....A LOT of players went university, I know. Even before we drafted kids we had to get copies of their school marks to prove they where good in school. If a kid could not balance a hockey/life balance then most teams never looked at him unless he is an amazing player that was probably NHL bound...if a kid slipped in his schooling in the QMJHL season our team would call him out, the kid would usually get benched or so till he fixed himself up, most players where very good in school. I do not remember a kid not finishing highschool....

 

[Big Daddie]

I will say, I was a scout for many years in the QMJHL and players HAD to have good marks in school, we had teacher assistance travel with the team, the kids finished Highschool and University was fully paid for them if they played 2 years in the league....A LOT of players went university, I know. Even before we drafted kids we had to get copies of their school marks to prove they where good in school. If a kid could not balance a hockey/life balance then most teams never looked at him unless he is an amazing player that was probably NHL bound...if a kid slipped in his schooling in the QMJHL season our team would call him out, the kid would usually get benched or so till he fixed himself up, most players where very good in school. I do not remember a kid not finishing highschool....

I know that scouting is your level of expertise but education is certainly my area of expertise . I have worked for 40 years at every level of education from elementary school to postgraduate university education . At the high school level I have spent years helping students who were in school every day and who had challenges with their course work . So what must it be like for the players who don't attend on a full time basis and could be gone on Wednesday and not back in school till the following Monday . It happens quite often and has to affect their success in school . To say they have teacher assistants travel with them sounds good but you know that kids take so many different courses that no human being would ever be able to help them in all those differnt areas . It would be virtually impossible !!! I knew several players who played in the East Coast league who said there were players there who were embarassed to go out to the schools to talk with the kids because they had not graduated from high school themselves . I am certainly hoping that things have changed ,but 30 years ago when I was Manager of a U18 AAA team , I had a scout ask me about a player on our team that he was interested in . The player was big but lacking in hockey IQ so I asked the scout what he looks for in a player . In his French accent he told me he looks for big guys without the points . By points he was talking about school marks ... he was looking for big kids who were not interesred in school . I was totally shocked and I refused to give him the information sheets on our players . Now that was quite a while ago and I am certain things have changed drastically . But certainly it is totally obvious that education is not the top priority for many major junior players and in fact it should be as that is how 99% of them are going to earn a living . I feel that with the new rules for NCAA hockey, it will lead to many more students going that route where they play less games and have more time for their studies and have a less fragmented education .

 

[scoutman1]

I know that scouting is your level of expertise but education is certainly my area of expertise . I have worked for 40 years at every level of education from elementary school to postgraduate university education . At the high school level I have spent years helping students who were in school every day and who had challenges with their course work . So what must it be like for the players who don't attend on a full time basis and could be gone on Wednesday and not back in school till the following Monday . It happens quite often and has to affect their success in school . To say they have teacher assistants travel with them sounds good but you know that kids take so many different courses that no human being would ever be able to help them in all those differnt areas . It would be virtually impossible !!! I knew several players who played in the East Coast league who said there were players there who were embarassed to go out to the schools to talk with the kids because they had not graduated from high school themselves . I am certainly hoping that things have changed ,but 30 years ago when I was Manager of a U18 AAA team , I had a scout ask me about a player on our team that he was interested in . The player was big but lacking in hockey IQ so I asked the scout what he looks for in a player . In his French accent he told me he looks for big guys without the points . By points he was talking about school marks ... he was looking for big kids who were not interesred in school . I was totally shocked and I refused to give him the information sheets on our players . Now that was quite a while ago and I am certain things have changed drastically . But certainly it is totally obvious that education is not the top priority for many major junior players and in fact it should be as that is how 99% of them are going to earn a living . I feel that with the new rules for NCAA hockey, it will lead to many more students going that route where they play less games and have more time for their studies and have a less fragmented education .

well im not sure how long ago that was...but i started with Gatineau in 2006 and even though the whole league was high priority on school marks...so maybe your thing was before that and shame on that team or scout. todays game the CHL looks for marks and gives kids all the tools to get the education they need.

 

[Rinkthoughts]

I wonder how the Titan moving to St. john's will impact the draft. Big pocket owners , great facility but will top Quebec kids still go there? Should be an exciting trade period next week.