F Matvei Gridin - Shawinigan Cataractes, QMJHL (2024, 28th, CGY)

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[HighLifeMan]

That trade is starting to look pretty good for Val d'Or now. Shawinigan is tied with Sherbrooke in the Central with Drummondville already 10 points ahead. Drummondville also dominated the lone game between the sides. Gridin also hasn't quite met expectations so far. He's been fair but not really a difference maker in most games. A lot of people claiming that the USHL is better than the Q predicted that Gridin would be dominating the Q. That's not the case. He's clearly behind his USHL pace despite getting heavy minutes with good players.

Meanwhile, I really liked what I saw from Eduard Bondar. I didn't know the player at all but he's been fantastic for a weak Val d'Or team. Given a W by Central scouting on their initial list but I wouldn't be surprised to see him become one of the risers of this season. There are only so many big righty defensemen with such a toolbox. Really polished and mature game as well for such a big kid playing in NA for the first time. In my view he's been Val d'Or's best defenseman so far this season.49 po

Now with having an adequate sample size to judge the trade it has been an absolute slam dunk for Shawinigan.

Gridin ranks top 10 in points, goals, and shots on net. He's become an absolute difference maker after a slower start (which was to be totally expected by the way)

October: 0.89pts/game
November: 1.38pts/game
December: 1.5pts/game
January: 1.8 pts/game

He had a similarly slow adjustment to the USHL as well before absolutely taking off.

49 points in 37 games, +20 on the season.

 

[Satan]

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[Lunatik]

He's up to 32 goals and 71 points