Sherbrooke Phoenix 2025-26 Season Preview

Jacob Titus

Sep 4, 2025, 20:30

Jacob Titus

Sep 4, 2025, 20:30

Updated at: Sep 4, 2025, 20:30

After two seasons of retooling, the Sherbrooke Phoenix will look to break into contendership this season.

Do they have what it takes to be one of the QMJHL's bonafide top squads? I have a couple doubts.

Thomas Rousseau with the Sherbrooke Phoenix (Photo: Sherbrooke Phoenix)

Goalies

The Sherbrooke Phoenix have one of the least proven tandems in the league going into 2025-26, with sole returner Kyan Labbe boasting just 16 games of QMJHL experience, while dropping last year's starter Linards Feldbergs for an import and overage slot.

In those 16 games, the 5-foot-9 Labbe measured well with a .902 save percentage, however it's hard to call the 18-year-old netminder proven as of yet.

Backing him up is Justin BriseBois, son of the Tampa Bay Lightning general manager. BriseBois, 18, has been hidden away in prep. He ended up playing the most pre-season games out of all goalies invited with four, perhaps already showing some favouritism by the team.

Given Labbe's lacking stature and that BriseBois outperformed him, I can see the two rotating on a 50/50 split to start the season.

Nevertheless, this tandem is unproven and thus punished for it in its rating.

Rating: C

Defense

Defensively. the team has some interesting storylines.

5-foot-9 blueliner Louis-Alex Tremblay will look to improve on an impressive 43-point draft year campaign last season, meanwhile 17-year-old defender Brandon Delasrobil will look to break through for his draft year this season after giving us a glimpse of his offensive potential with five points through seven games last season.

The team added import defender Reinis Auzins, a Latvian who played at the Finnish U18 level last season. He was able to pot 20 points through 30 games in that league, and so it is curious to see how the 18-year-old's offense may be able to translate to the 'Q'.

Furthermore, two of the Phoenix's overagers are on the back-end in 6-foot-6 Jean-Felix Lapointe (11 in 64) and Eloi Bourdeau (13 in 64).

Outside of the Tremblay and Delasrobil, there's a bit of a fall off. However, the depth on the team is very solid and I do think Delasrobil could have a standout season. As such, I'm going to go a bit optimistic with my rating and give them the A grade.

Rating: A

Forwards

Most of the Sherbrooke Phoenix's notable offensive players, outside of the overagers, are back. This is massive for the team as they had surpassed my expectations last year in this regard.

Mavrick Lachance was able to continue to flourish, developing into an above a point-per-game player last season with 59 points through 52 games.

Thomas Rousseau, a 2026 NHL draft eligible, was one of the 2024 QMJHL draft class' most immediate players, dropping 40 points through 58 games.

Florent Houle was able to break through in his first year in the league and get some draft buzz with a 34 point season rookie campaign.

Olivier Dubois will look to captain the team again for his overage season, after a solid 29-point, 37-game season.

Another returner of note is ex-ninth overall pick Olivier Lampron, who was able to jump from 9 to 32 points from his rookie to sophomore QMJHL season, and scoring at an above a point-per-game pace through his last eight games of the season.

In a similar vein, former 2024 sixth overall pick Jayden Plouffe's production surged after his mid-season trade to Sherbrooke.

However the most interesting player on the squad is Ilya Kolmakov, the team's first round import selection. Fresh off of a 157-point season with Little Caesars 16U AAA squad, the 2027 NHL draft eligible should be a player to keep a close eye on.

Other new additions of note include 2025 third round pick Cameron Haye and import selection Martins Klaucans (2026 NHL draft).

I really love the depth and potential of this front twelve, and I would not be surprised at all to see this squad exceed my expectations again, especially if they add more to it. However, I do think that this will be among one of the top offenses in the league.

Rating: A