Pilotte says QMJHL players don’t get special treatment at the Ducks’ scouting table. He does, however, acknowledge that Madden’s presence at the helm of the team’s scouting department makes his job easier when it comes time to sell a player from the Quebec circuit.
“I’m taking the example of Desruisseaux,” said Pilotte. Martin knows who he is and he loves him. If I had gone to see a head scout from another team who comes from Spokane for example…”
Madden admits he’s probably more comfortable selecting a QMJHL player than most of his counterparts.
“It’s not my perception of the league, it’s my perception of the players,” Madden said. “If a team is lucky enough to draft a player, but they’ve only seen him play three times in a year, it’s harder. We’ve seen him play maybe 20 times in two years, so our comfort level is higher.”
Late harvest, but higher than last year for the QMJHL
The comfort level of other NHL teams with the QMJHL representatives actually seemed very low during this 2024 auction.
It took until the very end of the second round to see a first player from the circuit be claimed. The Philadelphia Flyers then made a trade to climb to 59th place before selecting Oceanic defenseman Spencer Gill, a native of New Brunswick.
After being shut out in the first round for a second year in a row, a first in its history, the QMJHL established another unenviable record. Gill’s selection was in fact the latest for a first QMJHL player in the NHL draft.
The first Quebec player selected was Massé by the Ducks. He was followed by defender Alexis Bernier from the Baie-Comeau Drakkar, whose name was called in 73rd place by the Seattle Kraken.
With 15 players selected in total, the QMJHL beat its score of 12 from last year. However, it was a record for the lowest harvest in its history, so there is nothing to crow about.
The 2024 vintage of the QMJHL was already labeled as weak, but that does not prevent circuit commissioner Mario Cecchini from wanting to correct the situation for the coming years.
“I want it to serve as a wake-up callCecchini said. I want people to take note of what has happened in the last two years.
“If the players drafted represent a measure of the quality of our program, we must give ourselves a clear objective and work to achieve it. […] There are four or five paths that are favored at the moment, but the one we are following at the moment, I think we can say that it is not optimal. We owe that to our players and their parents who are making sacrifices, we have to find what needs to be changed and adjusted.
