One of the more enjoyable teams to watch in the league, some electric star forwards mixed with an inability to defend got them a step ahead from last season.
It was certainly never a boring time when the Victoriaville Tigres were playing.
While they were able to score thanks to high end talent like the Russian duo of Alexey Vlasov and Egor Shilov, they gave up just as much the other way. Goalies Gabriel D'Aigle and Anthony Catanzariti repeatedly faced 40 or more shots a game, and it was typically up to them to keep the team in games so their forwards could score some goals.
The questions around this team will be how they can improve next year. While they have plenty of young talent, they also have some potentially serious departures, and they'll still need to prove they can defend to at least an average level if they want to make some serious noise next season.
Alexey Vlasov played his way into 2026 NHL draft consideration thanks to an 80-point season. (Photo: Alex Garneau)The elephant in the room is around Shilov. He's expected to be a first-round pick in this summer's NHL draft, and he's committed to join Boston University in the fall. Losing a team's best player always hurts, and while it's not totally impossible he returns next season, it doesn't seem the most likely scenario.
Key overagers Alexis Bourque and Thomas Paquet will also age out, so it'll be on the youth to step up and fill their voids.
Luckily, behind Vlasov, there are names like Enzo Lottin, Korney Korneyev and Loik Gariepy who seem primed for bigger offensive roles, so they should still be able to score next season.
The real questions will remain around the back end. One would assume they bring back a couple blueliners as overagers, and Catanzariti should be able to take the starter's role as D'Aigle seems poised to graduate to the professional ranks.
Perhaps mid-season addition Dominik Necak can step up into a bigger role in his 18-year-old season. There's always a chance the Tigres management go out this summer and trade for a defender as well.
But there are legitimate holes on this group as they surely look to be more than just a first-round sweep next season, and those will need to be addressed if this group wants to hit their potential.
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