Simon Gagné promised Quebec Remparts fans that the team would participate in the playoffs this season, and he plans to keep that promise.
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A little less than a month before the opening of the trading period, on December 15, the hockey man has started to establish his plan, and this plan in no way includes a fire sale as was the case last year.
Not even trading their captain and best forward Justin Côté, even if it could allow the Remparts to obtain a return that would greatly help the future of the team.
“Right now, in my head, he’s not going anywhere. He is the engine of the team. We saw it when he was suspended for a match, it’s as if the team had lost its engine,” admitted the team’s general manager on Tuesday.
Stevens LeBlanc/JOURNAL DE QUEBEC
There’s no doubt the phone will ring for the services of the dynamic 20-year-old winger. Not only is the Remparts captain having an excellent season offensively, with 30 points in 22 games so far, but he also won the Gilles-Courteau trophy in Drummondville last year. Historically, players who have championship experience carry with them increased value in the transaction market.
You bluffing?
Last year, Gagné also mentioned several times that he did not intend to trade his captain, Kassim Gaudet. Finally, he traded him to the Drummondville Voltigeurs who made him an offer he couldn’t refuse.
What tells us that this won’t be the case again this year? It was pointed out to him, moreover, that his speech was remarkably similar to that of last year.
“Of course I hope that I will not be tested like I was in the case of Gaudet last year,” he agreed. However, these are different situations. Last season, I was ready to do it, telling myself that if we missed the playoffs, I was going to have a hard time swallowing the pill, but that I was going to live with it. There, we don’t want to relive that.”
On which foot to dance?
Quebec finds itself in a special position. Installed at 14e rank in the QMJHL, they are only five points from being excluded from the playoffs but, also, five points from finding themselves among the top ten teams in the general ranking.
Simon Gagné will therefore have to walk carefully on this line, between wanting to build for the future and allowing his young players to have a real playoff experience.
And this second option seems to be Gagné’s priority. Even though he could fall more into the camp of moderate buyers than sellers.
“If we are able to find a few players here and there who can help us, I know that with the guys we have, we could cause an upset. I wouldn’t like to face us in the first round,” he says, adding that playoff experience is crucial for the development of his young players.
