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.

 

[hawksfan4life]

How does this draft stand comparing it to the ohl draft?

 

[TJHKY]

Under the Microscope | January’s QMJHL Prospects - LHJMQ

During each month of the regular season, QMJHL scouts provide us with reports on some of the top prospects for the upcoming QMJHL Entry Draft presented by Fenplast. Here is their analysis of the prospects for the month of January. _ Yoan Carrier – Defenseman – Magog Cantonniers Yoan is a...

chl.ca

There are 2 New Brunswick prospects on the list and no one from PEI.

Looks like PEI has a weak year.

 

[Rinkthoughts]

Its a bit of a strange birth year as PEI has a couple of strong players but overall weak group

NS and NB have deep groups and will get plenty of draft picks but the top 3 in Atlantic will all probably be from NL (well 2 from NL and one from NS as Branton even though born and raised in NL played U14ACC with NS before moving to the States and then Ontario

 

[scoutman1]

Not arguing but just wondering about the criteria used to rank these players . I am sure you are quite adept at selecting the top prospects but as a seasoned observer of hockey at all levels , I am very much interested in how you evaluate them . A couple of years back I observed a couple of players projected to be selected in the 5th or 6th round of the QMJHL draft get moved up to the second round when they hadn't played almost all of the second half of the year . Others who played the entire year actually played themselves into lower positions . Once again I was bewildered by how someone could rise so high having not played any hockey . They only had a couple of points before the injuries took place . So that is why I am curious about the listed rankings . Not doubting them but looking to better understand them .

so many factors go into ranking...ranging from how you like a player and are able to sell him to the head scout and have the head scout come on board to draft him....as for your players who got drafted ahead of players that played a lot more i will use what happened in Gatineau with Claud Giroux as the example....Giroux got passed over twice in the OHL draft, one year he was 5'05 and a great player but too small for OHL teams to take him, the year after he got hurt and he grew to 5'10, he never got drafted because no team watched him play which means he became a free agent for us to sign and a guy we had in Ontario knew he was going to be great because of the year before and getting to know the kid outside of hockey lets you know how hard he trains and how serious he takes the sport. So one team might have info on a player that others do not, or a team might have connection with the player, with Gainteau when we drafted Maxime Clermont as the first goalie well he has going NCAA route, we called from the draft table to find confirm his enrollment and it was true, BUT our goaltending coach was his goaltending coach in the summers and told us to draft him he is pretty sure we can get him and we took a chance and it paid off. We drafted a player before (Jean-Gabriel Pageau) and i think it was 6th round at this point, i was wanting a player drafted and got up from the draft table to try to push for my guy from Nova Scotia when our head scout and another quebec scout with us said we are taking Pageau and he is going to be amazing...I actually never watched him play that year and i was thinking ya sure what ever but they knew something about his situation with the AAA team that no other team knew and i can not remember what it was but he would have fell to like round 9 to 10 had we not taken him in round 6.

sometimes in the 1st to 2nd rounds (which is not really hard to draft in those rounds because everyone knows the good players) you have to really do your research, you have to look at the kids school grades which is requested by us for top prospects because a future potential franchise player has to have his head screwed on right, you have to look at how hard he trains off ice, you also want to analize in the interviews set up with top prospects who parents take over the convo and not let the player speak because we had issues with parents trying to tell us at that point on how to coach the kid and what lines he works best on then pulls the kid from the team. So many factors and really hard to say why this kid went ahead....when i changed teams we knew a kid Guillaume Beck was being scouted and possibly drafted a position ahead of us, so we called Chicoutimi who we where friends with and had them draft Beck and we already had the trade worked out before it all happened.

Mostly though we had a Formula to draft by 1. IQ 2. heart 3. Skating.......the player we drafted HAD to have IQ then one of the other 2, if he did not have that we didnt want him. for the kids you where talking about on some getting drafted before others when they did not play, maybe the team looked at how they trained and handled their time off, sometimes if a player is decent size and good skating and you see them being positive with the team and working hard behind the scene then that might be a player you want to take a chance on in like round 5 or 6 as those are traits that translate.

It is very hard to pin point why the player went before, the kid for all we know could have went to one of the scouts hockey school in the off season (which happened to us and i said this is crazy to draft like this) but something caught their eye maybe in short time they saw the player but then recognized what they are like off the ice with training and such....it is an un-written rule to not talk to any player till the season is finished so your research has to come from asking coaches or trusted people you meet through your times at the rink that know the kid outside of the ice. Research is key, getting a well balanced kid who does well in school and does not need his parents to be an adult is major for getting drafted....i know the kids are only 16 years old but in this business you have to grow up fast because once your with the team there are only rules you have to follow but no one there holding your hand to enforce them all the time so the kids have to be mature.

 

[Big Daddie]

Just where I can see the latest list of prospects for the 2025 QMJHL ?

 

[Big Daddie]

Just where I can see the latest list of prospects for the 2025 QMJHL ?

Has anyone seemed to miss some of the better prospects by the CSR ?