“I don’t think I’ve seen this before”: No one agrees on who is the top prospect heading into the QMJHL draft

The QMJHL will hold its lottery for the next draft of its circuit, Thursday. So who is the best young player born in 2008, the one that the team that wins this lottery will have the chance to claim first place? No one really knows.

There is a consensus for this draft which will be held in Moncton on June 7 and 8 and that is that there is no consensus.

No player stands out as the best hope of the 2024 vintage and a consensus choice to hear his name at the very top.

During our conversations with several speakers, the names of the attackers Tynan Lawrence (Shattuck St-Mary’s), Jayden Plouffe (Esther-Blondin), Romain Litalien (Séminaire Saint-François), Dylan Rozzi (Lac Saint-Louis), Chad Lygitsakos (Trois-Rivières) and Maddox Dagenais (Quinte, Ontario), as well as defensemen Benjamin Cossette-Ayotte (Trois-Rivières), Jacob Gouchie and Cameron Chartrand (Bishop Kerney Selects) were named as potential first picks or, at all the least, like the best of the vintage.

But no one agrees on who is at the top of the class.

“There are several good players who need development, but not Alexis Lafrenière,” we were told.

Not to mention that another of the best prospects in the QMJHL pool, Cole Harbor forward Aiden O’Donnell, preferred to transfer to the Ontario Hockey League (OHL), where his father briefly played in the time, evoking reasons for “travel”. He was a first round draft pick of the Brantford Bulldogs recently.

No consensus

According to what we were told, teams even found themselves with a happy problem during meetings between recruiters when no one at the table had the same name as the first on the list.

“There is no consensus this year,” confirms the director of the QMJHL Recruitment Support Center, the equivalent of the NHL Central Recruitment, Pierre Cholette. I can’t even name a group of five players and tell you that it’s certain that the very first choice is going to be in there. It’s not because they aren’t good, but more because there isn’t one that stands out from the others. I don’t think I’ve ever seen that.”

The threat from the United States

What complicates the situation, once again this year, is the threat of some of the best hopes of continuing their route to the United States. At this moment, Lawrence, Chartrand and Dagenais are leaving doubt about their intentions.

“You don’t have a 100% clear answer from them,” confirms the general manager of the Quebec Remparts, Simon Gagné, to whom the choice of the Charlottetown Islanders will give 10% of the chances of being drafted first in the lottery.

These uncertainties also change the overall picture, some speakers pointed out to us.

For example, if the Val-d’Or Foreurs win the lottery (they have 15 of the 21 balls in the abacus), many expect that they will not draft players from the Maritimes, like Lawrence, for example. that it could be a different story if it was the Sea Dogs who won, the ones who convinced his brother, Josh, to play in the QMJHL in 2018, after he threatened the United States.

“I want to draft 1 and 2” – Maxime Desruisseaux

The fact that there is no consensus does not change much for the general manager of the Val-d’Or Foreurs, Maxime Desruisseaux: “I want to draft 1 and 2, it’s a luxury.”

The Abitibian team suffered last season, finishing in last place in the general QMJHL rankings with a measly 35 points, which gives them the best probabilities in the lottery with nine balls out of 21, or 43% of the chances of being drafted first. The Foreurs also hold the first round pick of the second worst team in the regular season, the Quebec Remparts, acquired in the transaction that sent Justin Robidas to the Old Capital last season.

This means that Val-d’Or has 15 of the 21 balls that will be placed in the abacus and a total of 71% of the chances of being drafted in first place.

A difference

In his eyes, drafting first and second overall would be a significant advantage.

“I think there is a difference between the players we have first and second on our list and those who are three, four or five. We have identified players who stand out and who, when they are 18, 19 or 20 years old, will lead the league.

Moreover, for those who think that the Foreurs, or any other team that wins the lottery, could opt for a holdout with the very first pick in order to obtain a compensatory pick of the same rank next season and ensure the services by Alexis Joseph, that’s not how it works. The compensatory pick offered to top-five talking teams is the sixth in the following year’s draft.

After the top-5, the team receives as compensation a choice of the same rank as the player it selected, in the draft the following year.