He is from my town so I know a bit about this case, it made a lot of noise when he announced he was going to the states. From an interview his father gave at TVA Sports (that I tried to translate to the best of my capacity since it was indeed in French).
"First of all, this was a family decision, said Bordeleau. Thomas is good at school. We lived in Europe until 2012, so Thomas only learned late in his life what was the QJMHL. Through time, he learned what was the NCAA. For having played hockey a long time and being hurt badly at the age of 27 when I had fractured verterbraes, I was confronted to reality. For me, it was important to combine University with hockey.
With my wife who spent 10 years in University and me spending four, it was the minimum. At the same time, we can make plans, but if our son wouldn't have been good in school, maybe we would've chose a different path. The american program was an opportunity and we didn't want to snub anyone."
So, it sounds like while his father and grandfather have great ties with the Hockey Quebec and the QJMHL, Thomas doesn't have any emotional or cultural ties to it and he chose the opportunity of committing to an University with the visibility of the USNTDP. Also in an interview with Radio-Canada, his father also mentioned they seek advise from CAA and talked with Pat Bisson, André Ruel and CAA player's development responsible Jim Hughes (Jack and Quinn's father). That definitely influenced Thomas too IMO.
The fuss about that news was not about a guy from a huge hockey family in Quebec to move to the states, we were happy for him and all. It was about questioning our current system as to why young Americans have access to multiple school and university options after their junior stage while in Quebec only three Universities, one french only, sponsor a man's hockey team.
I hope we could get better in that instance in the years to come.
Hope that gives you a bit more information guys!