Draft Results Table
LAS VEGAS – Alexandre Blais was 152 pounds – now 165 – of creativity and hockey sense.
With the weight he was at a few months ago, the Anaheim Ducks knew they were getting into a long-term project with the five-foot-ten athlete, but they liked his talent too much to let him slip away in the draft.
At the start of the fourth round, Stéphane Pilotte, who notably watches the QMJHL for the Ducks, suggested to his boss, Martin Madden Jr., that it would be better to draft him now, with the 100th pick.
“We didn’t have a fifth-round pick so I told Martin it would be risky to wait until the sixth round,” the scout said.
It’s hard to say in hindsight, but Blais could have sat in his seat at the stunning Las Vegas Sphere for a few more selections. His current frame would have surely made some organizations hesitate, but Anaheim played it safe.
The Ducks did not want their interest to be too well known towards Blais who led the Oceanic with 84 points (24 goals and 60 assists) in 68 games, ahead of the club’s second point scorer, Jacob Mathieu, by 21 points!
“If he had a bigger physique, he would have been chosen in the first two rounds. He is very talented and it is difficult to counter or hit him. He also knows how to win battles because he is very intelligent,” Pilotte said.
Unlike other QMJHL skaters, Blais will not have slipped during the draft.
“I was expecting the fourth or fifth round. I can’t ask for better,” admitted the skater from Longueuil.
Quite an accomplishment for someone who was supposedly not good enough or big enough to play in the M18AAA.
The Rimouski Oceanic forward is said to eat hockey. It’s not for nothing that he’s a real snake on the ice and that his puck handling is already worthy of the NHL.
“He’ll probably finish in the top three in scoring next season, he’ll be in the Memorial Cup and their team will be very strong,” Pilotte said.
In training, his teammates love to compete with him to learn from his hockey intelligence. He is able to surprise his opponents by sending several false information to confuse them.
His agent Marc Purdon, from the OLP Sports agency, remembered what Serge Beausoleil, his first coach in Rimouski, said: “he takes hockey to another level.”
Lucid, Blais realizes however that his rise in the NHL will not be a piece of cake. He will have to continue to put in the extra effort in training with Alex Turcotte of the Motto training centers on the South Shore of Montreal.
“I’ve always had to prove my worth and it’s not over. I still have one or two seasons left in the QMJHL. The idea is not to make the jump quickly, they develop players well in the American League in San Diego,” said Blais, who was accompanied by 13 people in Las Vegas.
On that note, a few days before the draft, Blais ran into his former teammate Tyson Hinds, who was drafted by Anaheim in 2021. Hinds was sharing his appreciation of his first year in San Diego.
In this organization, he also knows Maxim Massé and Noah Warren.
The next few years will serve to refine his arsenal. In this regard, he takes inspiration from Clayton Keller.
“I really like watching Clayton Keller, he’s not the biggest, but he’s super good and he wins his battles in addition to being an excellent passer. I think I have the talent and the intelligence to make it,” concluded Blais.
