Rimouski acquires their new starter after moving Lacelle, while Drummondville picks up a middle-six scoring forward option.
After moving star goalie William Lacelle earlier Monday, the Rimouski Océanic were in need of a new starter for the future. They've achieved that through the acquisition of Dayton Kitchener from Drummondville.
Going back the other way is 19-year-old forward Lou Levesque, as well as Blainville-Boisbriand's fifth-round pick in the 2026 QMJHL draft, which is being flipped from the Lacelle trade.
Kitchener, 18, is in his rookie QMJHL season, posting a 7-7-3 record, 0.894 save percentage and 3.02 goals-against average with the Voltigeurs, mostly in a tandem with Jan Larys.
Dayton Kitchener with the Drummondville Voltigeurs. (Photo: Ghyslain Bergeron)Levesque has 26 (9+17) points in 34 games for Rimouski this season, his second with the team after being acquired from Halifax last season.
For Drummondville, they clearly have enough trust in Larys to be the full-time starter, while 16-year-old Mathys Fortin has been excellent in his first two QMJHL starts after being a top performer at the U18 AAA level.
Now, they can add a veteran option to their forward group, while not giving up too much in terms of value or hurting their team.
Rimouski obviously needed a goalie, and Kitchener is sure to face a lot of shots the rest of this season. Levesque probably didn't have too much future value to them given his age, and now they're able to get a starter for at least the next season and a half without having to ship out any young assets as they build for the future.
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