The pre-season is an awkward time for fans.
The games don't mean much on the surface, and it just gets you wishing that the regular season could come sooner.
However, for players on the bubble of being an NHL player, it can be an extremely tantalizing time.
We see established NHL vets fall out of favour for young, up-and-comers and sometimes even, grizzled AHL veterans.
Even though the QMJHL's talent pool has thinned over the past couple of years, producing less NHL draft talent, there's still more than a handful of guys who could make the jump to the NHL full time for the 2024-25 season.
Below is a handful of players who just might.
RW Raphael Lavoie (Edmonton Oilers)
This feels like a 'make it or break it' year for former Mooseheads and Saguenéens star Raphael Lavoie.
The former 2019 second rounder has improved every season, but has yet to truly break in to the NHL.
Last season, he registered his first 50-point (28+22) AHL season, and even sniffed 7 NHL games where he went point-less.
The hope is that the numerous depth departures might mean a spot could open up for Lavoie, although it won't be a free-ride.
So far, The Hockey News has Lavoie listed as an NHL extra.
G Olivier Rodrigue (Edmonton Oilers)
There's a notion in hockey that goalies tend to take longer to develop, and that feels like the case for Rodrigue.
A former second rounder in 2018, 'O-Rod' only emerged in 2022-23 after amassing a .912 save percentage over 29 games in the AHL's Bakersfield Condors. His stats would jump this year to a .916 save percentage over 37 games.
The 24-year old netminder would need to bypass Calvin Pickard, who emerged as the Oilers backup goaltender last season after Jack Campbell's play declined sharply.
Before last season, Pickard hasn't been an NHL regular since the 2016-17 season, and considering that the Oilers didn't sign a serious potential NHL rotation-level goaltender, it just shows that they have trust in what they have now.
Whether that is Calvin Pickard, or Olivier Rodrigue.
It is of note that should the former star netminder of the Voltigeurs and Wildcats not make the Oilers, he will be waiver eligible for the first time in his career. So even if the Oilers don't end up making him an NHL goaltender, another team could.
RW Jordan Dumais (Columbus)
Jordan Dumais might be the only player who played solely in the QMJHL last season, who could potentially make the jump directly to the NHL.
Although there are a few things that could hold the Halifax Mooseheads' all-time great back.
Firstly, is his size as he stands at just 5-foot-7. It's possible that the Blue Jackets might want to ensure he can handle the AHL before even testing if he can handle the NHL regular season.
Secondly, he was limited to just 21 games last season due to a lower abdominal injury. However, he did score 47 points in the 21 games, including 16 goals and 31 assists.
If you stretched his totals out for an entire 68 game season, he would have registered 152 points, and his pro-rated 100 assists alone would have landed him second in the league in scoring -- just behind Antonin Verrault's 107 points.
Furthermore, Dumais got into some personal troubles as he was arrested and stood trial for drunk driving charges this past year.
Even with all the asterisks weighing against him, it's not often that a 150 point major junior player -- pro-rated or otherwise -- doesn't end up getting at least a shot at the NHL the following season.
The Hockey News has him listed outside the NHL, as of right now.
D Samuel Bolduc (New York Islanders)
If it weren't for the surprise re-emergence of Mike Reilly, former Armada defender Samuel Bolduc would be an NHL regular.
The 6-foot-4, 24-year old blueliner amassed 34 games last season with the Islanders, where he notched 5 points (2+3).
Now, Bolduc coult still be on the outside looking in, with Alexander Romanov, Adam Pelech and the aforementioned Reilly clogging up the left point.
Although, a big pre-season may swing things in his favour. Especially if he can bring some of the offensive touch from his play in the AHL to the NHL as in 2022-23 Bolduc was coming off of a 35 point (10+25) AHL season with the Baby Isles.
D Daniil Miromanov (Calgary Flames)
It's not often that a player might finally break into the NHL full time at 27, but defenseman/winger Daniil Miromanov is not a usual player.
He's been all over the place, from Acadie-Bathurst and Moncton, to Czechia, the ECHL and the KHL.
After getting a contract with the Vegas Golden Knights, he was a dynamic offensive player for the AHL's Henderson Silver Knights.
Thanks to the strength of the Golden Knights' d-corps and an untimely knee injury at the tail end of the 2022-23 season, Miromanov would never really get much of an opportunity.
Miromanov would pack his bags to Calgary as the sole player going back to the Flames in the Noah Hanifin trade, who they immediately signed to a two-year NHL deal at $1.25 million.
"Through all those years, I knew what I can do and I know my potential, and I was just never able to showcase that,” Miromanov said to the Calgary Herald last season.
In his 20 game stint with the Flames to end the season, notching seven points (3+4).
"I’m just going to go off, basically."
Going into this season, he's currently slotted as the second pair right defenseman.
LW Jakob Pelletier (Calgary Flames)
Speaking of the Flames, how about Jakob Pelletier?
The last couple of seasons, the timing just hasn't felt right for the Calgary Flames' 2019 1st rounder. He was never quite able to stick in the NHL thus far, having played in 37 games, across two seasons, with 13 of them coming last season.
Although with the Flames seemingly rebuilding, it has opened up a lot of slots, including potentially one for the former Wildcats and Foreurs star.
That said, this all depends on the state of Pelletier's contract negotiations as he's still a restricted free agent and both sides are not close, according to a recent report.
If Pelletier misses camp, or even part of the start of the season, a player may take his place in the lineup.
Pelletier is currently projected as the Flames fourth line left winger.
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