With the 2025 NHL draft less than two weeks away, what better time to take a sneak-peak at the best the QMJHL has to offer.
D Alex Huang (Chicoutimi)
Biography
- Birthday: July 30, 2007
- Height: Six-foot
- Weight: 161 lbs
- Stats: 64 games, 7 goals, 33 assists
- Ranked the #77 North American skater by NHL Central Scouting
Ahead of this season, Alex Huang was looking like one of three likely first round candidates at the NHL draft in June. While his draft capital has taken a small slide downwards, there's still a lot to like from the diminuitive right shot defenseman.
Skating is the basis of Huang's game and is good enough to be a transformational asset. His edgework is extremely strong, and he uses it to deceive and rally around immobile defenders in the offensive zone and has begun to implement this tool into becoming better in his own end.
A big reason why Huang hasn't maintained his hype this season is due to his lack of a jump in production, which can be tied to his passable hockey sense. He's a very pacey player that seems to lose overthink plays when the game slows down around him. One can hope he can build confidence in this area next season as Chicoutimi aspires for contention.
If he can build upon other areas of his game, there could be a genuine second pair, potentially second power play upside here. However, the other areas of his game are mostly just passable.
Standing at only six-foot and 161 lbs, Huang will need a few seasons to bulk up to be able to withstand the physical pressures of attacking forecheckers and driving power forwards at the NHL level.
In a few ways, he compares to an Adam Boqvist-like defenseman. Skating is the basis of both of their games, and generally they both lean more offensive. However, Boqvist was further along in the offensive zone at this point in time in his career, and he's since developed into a player who has struggled to consistently maintain a lineup spot, whether due to injuries or healthy scratches.
Huang will play one more season at the QMJHL level before moving up to the NCAA with Harvard, which I think is the right move for him. He'll need to develop physically to become an NHL player and playing against more matured competition and have access to team dieticians and higher end strength coaches should help put him on the fast track.
Just a few years ago, Huang might have been a high second round pick at this point, but with the NHL's shift away from smaller defenseman, even with high end skating, he could very easily end up falling to as late as the fourth round. However, I would not be surprised if a team banked on his mobility and potential offensive upside as soon as the late second round, with the hope that everything else will round itself out.
Projection
- Draft: Pick 50-100
- NHL: 4/5 D, second powerplay
G Gabriel D'Aigle (Victoriaville)
Biography
- Birthday: November 21, 2006
- Height: 6-foot-4
- Weight: 207 lbs
- Stats: 55 games, .883 save percentage, 4.52 goals against average
- Ranked the #11 North American goaltender by NHL Central Scouting
Gabriel D'Aigle for a long time was heralded as o Canadian goaltending prodigy. From age seven, D'Aigle became a YouTube hockey sensation, as he would post videos of him training from his basement.
Those videos would catch fire, with one video surpassing 1.7 million views. He would go on to the infamous Brick Tournament and ebventually train with legendary goaltender Marc-Andre Fleury. In these early videos, you can see exactly why Gabriel D'Aigle was so dominant for each of those levels and why he'd get taken with the second overall pick in 2022 by Victoriaville.
He's carried a massive frame pretty much his whole career. Furthermore, he pairs his size with violently explosive cuts and genuine athletecism. He's also a capable puck handler, showing consistently the ability to move the puck to defenders.
However, even in those early videos, you can see the tiny bad habits which have gone on to hinder his development at the QMJHL level. His stance is very awkard, often times bending over further than necessary. This is a bad habit that Connor Hellebuyck has picked up in the playoffs, that can lead to bad rebounds as the puck bounces in front instead of into the pocket to cover. When combined with sometimes questionable angling, this only widens areas for shooters to target and also leads to more rebounds.
It also cannot be understated that while D'Aigle has some glaring weaknesses that he is also in the worst position to succeed. Three years ago, the Victoriaville Tigres were just a season removed from a QMJHL championship and instead of going through a full rebuild, they had decided to just retool. As such, they were able to acquire the second overall pick, but ensured that they were in a position to contender in 2022-23 and 2023-24.
Playing behind one of the top QMJHL goaltenders at the time in Nathan Darveau, D'Aigle never had the runway in his first and second season. Additionally, his lackluster play at the Hlinka, U-17s and U-18s, all in his age 16 season, had certainly hampered his confidence. With each progressive season on the Tigres, the team began to atrophy as top players would graduate or get dealt.
This season was the worst for the team, as D'Aigle had won 16 of the teams 17 wins al season as the team cycled through backup goaltenders. All-in-all, D'Aigle finished with a league high 55 games behind the QMJHL's worst team. So, while his .883 save percentage and 4.52 goals against average are shriek worthy, circumstantially it is more tolerable.
As a 2006-born with only two seasons of QMJHL eligibility left, D'Aigle is in dire need of a change in opportunity if he is to develop into anything above a backup and there's many reasons to believe that he can completely turn around his play in a better cirumstance. He's shown the ability to steal games consistently, single-handedly willing the Tigres into victories and close games. Furthemore, he's got a really solid foundation so that if he does not need to play as heavy of a workload and tempo, he should see a major jump in save percentage as a good chunk of the goals he lets in are off of defensive lapses.
Should he get that right environment, perhaps Ukko-Pekka Luukkonnen could be a comparable as to what his upside may be. However, given his challenging situation and the stagnant development, he is a complete wildcard as to if he can get to the NHL level. Hopefully he is able to land in the NCAA after his QMJHL career, or with a team with strong goaltending coaching to bring him closer his peak.
Projection
- Draft: Round 4-6
- NHL: Likely NHL backup or third string, could end up as high as a higher end tandem or fizzle out completely
C Remi Gelinas (Rouyn-Noranda)
Biography
- Birthday: May 25, 2005 (third year eligible)
- Height: Six-foot
- Weight: 187 lbs
- Stats: 32 games, 25 goals, 17 assists
- Ranked the #98 North American goaltender by NHL Central Scouting
While it is not often that a third year draft eligible makes his debut in major junior and ends up on scouts radar, Remi Gelinas is that exception.
Coming over to the QMJHL after the November NCAA ruling allowing major junior players to commit to college hockey programs, the Clarkson University commitment, who had 50 points (27+23) through 26 games in the Ottawa-based CCHL Jr. A league would quickly find his spot with Rouyn-Noranda. Going point-less in the first two games, he would explode with a 14-game point streak.
Despite signing as a winger, he would quickly move to center for most of the season, thanks to his net-front playstyle and impressive success with faceoffs (winning 62.1 per cent on the draw). Speaking of impressive percentages, Gelinas finished the season with a 21.6 shooting pecentage. All-the-while, Gelinas proved to be a more-than capable player in the defensive end as well.
These reasons alone should give Gelinas the chance at becoming worthy of a shot at the pros in due time, where he'll likely succeed whether in a bottom six or even potential a top six role in the AHL. However, there are occassionally signs of a more dynamic player.
In particular, he's got solid hands in tight and when paired with his ability to accurately shoot the puck around the crease, he's a netfront menace akin to a less driven, but more defensively reliable Stefan Noesen.
All-in-all, we've seen players of this calibre get to levels as high as middle six forwards, and while it is certainly not impossible, it is a longshot projection for Gelinas, who will need to continue refining his puck skills and shooting to become even more dynamic offensively.
However, in all likelihood, whichever teams lands Gelinas is likely to get a future AHL guy who may be a replacement level call-up.
Projection
- Draft: Round 5-7
- NHL: Netfront two-way depth forward
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