The Athletic's Scott Wheeler has just published his much anticipated Top 100 NHL Prospects list. In it, the scouting guru ranks and evaluates who he believes are among the NHL's young players to watch. Of the 100 players he highlighted, only six former QMJHL players landed within his master list.
If we were to count players who have been drafted to the QMJHL, but never played that number in the QMJHL that number would increase to 15 as it would include:
- Ivan Miroshnichenko (Blainville-Boisbriand, Acadie-Bathurst)
- Simon Nemec (Cape Breton)
- Jiri Kulich (Cape Breton)
- Matvei Michkov (Charlottetown)
- Will Smith (Gatineau)
- Cole Eiserman (Moncton)
- Brad Nadeau (Rimouski)
- Ryan Leonard (Rouyn-Noranda)
- Scott Morrow (Val-d'Or)
This just goes to show that the QMJHL doesn't have the same pull on American or import skaters like it used to. Furthermore, the inclusion of Brad Nadeau on this list, a New Brunswick native who went the college route, indicates another sign that the QMJHL may not have as strong of a pull in it's own territory either. Given this, it's almost no surprise that the QMJHL hasn't had, for the first time ever, back to back years without a player being selected in the first round of the NHL Draft.
As for the QMJHL players who made the list, Dallas Stars center Mavrik Bourque leads the way at 63rd, meaning that there any QMJHL players within Wheeler's Top 60 prospects either.
Below are the six QMJHL players that were highlighted on Wheeler's list:
63. C Mavrik Bourque (Dallas)
Mavrik Bourque of the Dallas Stars- Age (as of Sept. 16, 2024): 22
- Stats last year:
- QMJHL: Shawinigan Cataractes (2018-2022)
68. C Joshua Roy (Montreal)
Joshua Roy of the Montreal Canadiens- Age (as of Sept. 16, 2024): 21
- Stats last year:
- QMJHL: Saint John Sea Dogs (2019-2020), Sherbrooke Phoenix (2021-2023)
71. RW Jordan Dumais (Columbus)
Jordan Dumais (69) of the Columbus Blue Jackets- Age (as of Sept. 16, 2024): 20
- Stats last year:
- QMJHL: Halifax Mooseheads (2020-2023)
77. D Tristan Luneau (Anaheim)
Tristan Luneau of the Anaheim Ducks- Age (as of Sept. 16, 2024): 20
- Stats last year:
- QMJHL: Gatineau Olympiques (2020-2023)
89. C Hendrix Lapierre (Washington)
Hendrix Lapierre as a member of the Hershey Bears, the Capitals AHL affiliate- Age (as of Sept. 16, 2024): 22
- Stats last year:
- QMJHL: Chicoutimi Saguenéens (2018-2021), Acadie-Bathurst Titan (2021-22)
90. D Maveric Lamoureux (Utah)
Maveric Lamoureux (10) as a member of the Arizona Coyotes- Age (as of Sept. 16, 2024): 20
- Stats last year:
- QMJHL: Drummondville Voltigeurs (2021-2024)