With the completion of the Hlinka-Gretzky Cup and the start of pre-season play for most juniors leagues, eyes are slowly shifting towards the 2025 NHL Draft.
The Hockey News' draft contributor, Tony Ferrari, recently published an article that highlighted a handful of players to keep an eye on for this season in North America.
Of the 10 players on the list, two are from the QMJHL.
This is a more than welcome sight as the league is coming off of back-to-back seasons without a player taken in the first round -- something that has never happened before in the entire league's near 60-year history.
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One player highlighted is centerman Caleb Desnoyers of the Moncton Wildcats. Standing at 6-foot-2, he is coming off of a 60-game, 56-point season (20+36) and had five points (1+4) over five games while serving as an alternate captain of Team Canada at the Hlinka-Gretzky.
"His skating isn’t incredibly dynamic, but he never falls behind play," Ferrari writes. "Desnoyers’ physical tools aren’t overly impressive, but his tactical game and ability to play off his teammates with a high level of effort has been impressive at the Hlinka and last season in the QMJHL."
The second player highlighted was Chicoutimi Saguenéens right-shot defenseman Alex Huang. The six-foot blueliner had 36 points (8+28) across 61 games with the Sags, and notched four points (2+2) over five games with Canada at the HGC.
"Huang is a capable puck-mover as well, consistently looking to hit teammates on the breakout with passes," Ferrari says. "His puck skill isn’t overly impressive, and his game lacks a dynamism that top-of-the-draft defenders have, but as a mid-first-round pick, Huang could fill a need for quite a few teams."
To read the rest of Tony Ferrari's article, click here.
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With two names getting recognition this early, 2025 should be a bounce-back year for the QMJHL. That said, there's a whole season ahead of us, which means plenty of time for guys to fall off people's radar and even time to shoot up draft boards, like Beckett Sennecke and Stain Solberg last season.
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