Surging Eagles jump, while Armada trades keep them in top tier despite bad form.
The holiday trade period has come and gone, and every QMJHL team's roster is more or less set the rest of the way into the stretch run. Week 17 begins Wednesday with four games.
Gatineau at Moncton - 6 PM EST
Cape Breton at Rimouski - 7 PM EST
Quebec at Sherbrooke - 7 PM EST
Blainville-Boisbriand at Val-d'Or - 7 PM EST
And here's a look at how the power rankings shape up:
Tier One: Contenders
1. Chicoutimi Saguenéens (26-6-3) (Prev. 1)
2. Moncton Wildcats (26-7-3) (Prev. 2)
3. Blainville-Boisbriand Armada (20-11-5) (Prev. 3)
The same teams remain in the top three, and even despite Blainville-Boisbriand's 3-5-2 run in their last 10 games, the big acquisitions of William Lacelle and Jan Golicic keep them in the top tier. They'll need to start showing on the ice why they're ranked so highly, however.
Meanwhile, it's status quo for the top two. They have a huge gap in points on everyone else in the league, and they're both in excellent form. Chicoutimi added more than Moncton over the trade period, as is expected given the assets at hand, but the Wildcats stayed afloat without Caleb Desnoyers, and have looked pretty unbeatable with him in the lineup playing at his top level.
Tier Two: Pretenders
4. Rouyn-Noranda Huskies (21-10-4) (Prev. 4)
5. Drummondville Voltigeurs (21-12-4) (Prev. 5)
6. Cape Breton Eagles (19-11-6) (Prev. 8)
7. Shawinigan Cataractes (20-11-4) (Prev. 6)
8. Newfoundland Regiment (20-15-2) (Prev. 7)
9. Charlottetown Islanders (17-14-7) (Prev. 9)
10. Quebec Remparts (19-15-2) (Prev. 11)
11. Halifax Mooseheads (18-15-3) (Prev. 10)
Not too much movement in the hopefuls tier, as most of these teams didn't make any earth-shattering trades during the window that would push them above their record.
That doesn't mean there aren't intriguing moves, though. Cape Breton traded captain Tomas Lavoie, but then brought in Raoul Boilard. Charlottetown added top prospect Ivan Ryabkin. Newfoundland fixed their goaltending situation with Louis-Antoine Denault, and also grabbed Alexis Mathieu. Shawinigan has made a half dozen trades in and out.
It's tough to fully gauge this tier, but all of these teams have the potential of making some noise in the playoffs, even if they aren't built to be key contenders.
Tier Three: Hopefuls
12. Sherbrooke Phoenix (16-16-4) (Prev. 12)
13. Val-d'Or Foreurs (15-16-5) (Prev. 15)
14. Victoriaville Tigres (15-17-5) (Prev. 14)
These three teams stay in the hopefuls tier as they didn't totally tear everything down to the ground during the trade period, keeping to at least keep some solid players around. In Victoriaville's case, that's because their best players are all 17 anyway.
The Tigres and Foreurs are actually on decent form in their last 10 games, though it's not like they're about to go out and shock the world down the stretch. In the end, these teams will all make the playoffs, but are likely first round exits.
Tier Four: Rebuilders
15. Rimouski Océanic (17-18-1) (Prev. 13)
16. Saint John Sea Dogs (14-19-3) (Prev. 17)
17. Gatineau Olympiques (14-19-3) (Prev. 16)
18. Baie-Comeau Drakkar (9-23-6) (Prev. 18)
These are the teams that sold as much as anyone, and it's no secret what their plans are for this year. While Rimouski's record suggests they should maybe be up a tier, Lacelle was stealing victories for them, and while Dayton Kitchener is a solid replacement, it's unlikely he'll be at Lacelle's level immediately.
Gatineau, Saint John and Baie-Comeau fans already know the pain of being down at the bottom, and are probably already looking at the draft prospects for a chance to see what the future could hold.
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