150 First Impressions of the 2025 NHL Draft: Quebec
Welcome back! Taking a break from the juggernauts of the CHL, this trip in the Q will be a lot more modest. Although, it’s not as modest as it has been in recent years. I fully expect the QMJHL to make a return to the first round for the first time since 2022, and maybe even have their first lottery selection since Alexis Lafreniere back at the turn of the decade.
Caleb Desnoyers - Moncton Wildcats - S
Truly, any discussion about the Q’s resurgence is spearheaded by the impressive body of work Desnoyers has accumulated, winning gold with Canada at the U17s, U18s, and the recent Hlinka-Gretzky.
On the ice, Desnoyers is a player that leads with his intelligence, a real tactician. In true Napoleonic fashion, Desnoyers stands out for how well he chooses his battles and how quickly he executes his plans. A large part of this style revolves around his off-puck play, which is some of the most mature in the draft. His positioning is rarely off; he’s constantly engaged in play, and he’s very disciplined as far as self-insertion is concerned. This carries over to his physical play, which like the rest of his game is finely tuned. He plants his feet well, he’s quick to rejoin play, and he’s careful about when he initiates.
To be clear, Desnoyers possesses a wide range of pro-ready traits for a playmaker. It should be no surprise that when Desnoyers does get the puck on his stick, he’s able to make stuff happen. He’s got a great knack for creating rush chances and utilizes his teammates both in those chances and in the offensive zone remarkably.
The one stipulation I may have with Desnoyers is that his individual game may not be as high-end as others this year. His raw skating and shooting ability can feel a bit average, but it’s not a weakness; it’s an area for growth. And growth is the name of the game with projecting the Desnoyers to the NHL. He hasn’t rounded out his 6’1 frame yet, and adding some raw strength will be a great boon to him at the NHL level. He is a player that will make a team happy quickly. Maybe as fast as a year or two after he’s drafted.
Justin Carbonneau - Blainsville-Boisbriand Armada - S-
I am a little bit biased in favor of Carbonneau, as the BBA are the closest Q team from where I was raised. Fortunately, he’s been red-hot to start the year, so a bit of glazing is justified!
Carbonneau is basically the mirror image of Desnoyers, in that he’s more of a shoot-first player and trades off some maturity for that raw individual skill. He’s a demon in a straight line and a massive threat off the rush thanks to his great hands and how well he’s able to maintain shooting accuracy in motion. He brings in some good projectable size in a 6’1 frame, which aids his first-round case nicely considering the relative lack of high-end offensive options that bring that this year.
Carbonneau does have some work to put in, particularly in the hockey sense department. He’s a very honest, albeit immature, player in his current state. As he broadens his horizons and adds the habits he needs, Carbonneau will also need to learn to see his teammates more and take advantage of them. Improving Carbonneau’s on-ice vision and enabling him to properly see and react to his options as the envelop could be a huge boon, not only on the puck but off it. Carbonneau does engage in defensive play, but he lacks the vision to read play as it evolves outside of him. I believe it should be teachable, as he’s shown the ability to measure his options in transition.
All in all, Carbonneau is a very attractive skate-and-shoot player in his current form, which doesn’t scream first round pedigree, but he has very serious top-6 potential if he can broaden his horizons.
Bill Zonnon - Rouyn-Noranda Huskies - A
No player had me raising my eyebrows (positive) as much as Bill Zonnon did on first viewing. He plays a highly anticipative, super-physical game that pops off the screen whenever you watch him. There are a lot of players that do what Zonnon does, but few seem to love their job as much as he does. He all-ins opponents to the point of harassment, and at his size, at the Q level, few players have the capacity to deny him. This allows Zonnon to create turnovers en masse. He also has the offensive skill to build on his advantages with really intelligent, quick passes. That playmaking game serves him well all over the ice, but it’s especially impressive in transition, where his ability to move the puck right out of a won battle on the boards is second to none.
However, more than what he does on the ice, the effort is what really sticks out with Zonnon. He plays every shift like the ice beneath him insulted him. The urgency that he brings is a sign of his insane work ethic. There’s a lot of rawness in Zonnon; there’s no denying it. Mechanically, he doesn’t look like a pro, and he’s not a super tactical playmaker, relying on being a more hit-and-run option. But I just have to believe there is an NHL job for him somewhere. Surely, this combination of intelligence, in-motion play, raw athleticism, and unrivaled determination can be molded into an NHL player... right?
Émile Guité - Chicoutimi Saguenéens - A
Guité was marketed to me as a straight “skate-and-shoot” type of player, and I don’t wholeheartedly disagree with that assessment. It’s not a bad thing by any means; Guité brings both blazing speed and a very powerful shot, and if he does make the NHL, it will be on account of those two skills. I believe he’s already got a lot of the habits to support that type of game. Most importantly, he measures his time and space very well in motion. When Guité does turn on his jets, he rarely miscalculates. It’s his greatest off-puck skill, and it enables him to be the finisher he wants to be. Just going off of what he’s good at, it’s easy to see Guité as a first-round option.
My main concern with Guité lies in his reliance on those strengths. This definitely shows up when playing on his own end. Guité will use his awareness to try and find a chance to make a break for himself, but he doesn’t have the map of the ice to pull it off consistently as he is often locking on to his assignment. While he does engage physically when play comes to him, he’s beaten often in those situations due to taking too long to find his options or being a little too light in those areas.
All in all, I want Guité to think a level deeper. He’s already a great off-puck player in transition, but what if he were more involved in making those changes of possession happen? He’s already engaging in puck battles, but what if he read the ice beforehand so he knew where to get the puck as soon as he won the battle? If Guité can unlock that part of his game, I think there could be an effective NHL winger here.
Zachary Morin - Saint John Sea Dogs - B+
There’s little doubting Morin’s skill; he has been tearing up the Q since arriving in Saint John. Morin’s got the jets and the physicality to hang with the best of the class. Loves to crunch bodies, forecheck hard, and blast pucks in motion.
He’s notably addressed a lot of the music from his time in Youngstown. He was undisciplined in Youngstown and took 114!! PIMs; he’s currently without even a minor through 12 games this season. He was seen as a bit selfish, calling his own number a bit too often, again something that has seen notable progress.
It’s hard to say if the new environment has changed Morin or even if these positive shifts are here to stay. What I can’t shake from my mind is that I haven’t been sold on Morin becoming a top-6 NHL option. Which is fine; he brings the skill, speed, and physicality to be a hard-nosed 3rd line option. I just don’t know if Morin will be able to adapt to playing a more well-rounded game, and I don't believe he will get away with not having one.
Alex Huang - Chicoutimi Saguenéens - B
Since my first viewing of Huang, I’ve had a tough time mentally separating him from Henry Mews. Both being very light, 6’, smooth-skating, puck-moving right-handed defenders probably serve that. However, I often admired Mews' desire to be aggressive on the puck and to take chances. I don’t really see that in Huang, and his attempts to do so have often resulted in turnovers. Huang still finds ways to be effective. He’s good in his own end thanks to his anticipation and stickwork and can create exits with the best of them thanks to his natural finesse.
I struggle to see an NHL role for Huang as he is. For him to do so, I believe means he needs to tap into his offensive side more, which naturally means getting more aggressive. Getting more comfortable and more willing to activate offensively can greatly boost Huang’s projectability.
Owen Conrad - Charlottetown Islanders - B
Conrad has a lot to keep a viewer interested. He’s got good skating ability and remarkable composure. His ability to corral pucks, create exits, and move play up-ice with his feet was great. Conrad looked to me like a very poised, mature puck carrier.
But I struggled to get excited about too much else. His strength largely lies in motion; when play settles down, I have yet to see a point where Conrad excels. He’s not a particularly exceptional passer or shooter amongst his peers, and I believe that’s largely to do with a lack of vision. He just doesn’t see play as well as he needs to to make use of his tools. Considering his size, I can still see an NHL team trust that as he unlocks his ability to read the ice, the skill will unlock naturally. He’s already got the skating down; now he just has to make use of it.
Carlos Händel - Halifax Mooseheads - B-
Händel stood out to me as the blueline paragon of the German Hlinka team. He’s a decent skater who defends the rush well, keeps his gaps tight, but was regularly beaten by players who were able to exploit his poor backward mobility. Some of the clips that came as a result of that were really unflattering.
Still, Carlos “Händels” himself well enough (sorry). He performed very admirably in very tough minutes and stood out due to his ability to get pucks out of his zone. I have yet to see QMJHL tape on him, but for the very north-south nature of the game there, I imagine Handel’s consistent ability to get pucks far up-ice enough for his wingers to make something happen will be a useful tool. I can see him being a valid NHL penalty killer.
Phillipe Veilleux - Val-d’Or Foreurs - C+
Veilleux felt like he belonged in the long list of effective, intelligent decision-makers that comprised a lot of last year’s draft class. He reads, plays exceptionally well, and has really impressive hands, making him one of the more visually impressive players I’ve seen this year.
The list of issues in this game is a little too long for me to get super excited for him, though. He does largely create through the perimeter. He is small and a poor defensive player on a poor QMJHL team. Doesn’t play very physically either.
The odds are stacked against him, but I think Veilleux could bring some tangible value in the draft’s later rounds. I just fear he may be forgotten amidst a poor Val D’Or team.
Florian Schenk - Saint John Sea Dogs - C
At the Hlinka, Schenk was the Swiss national team resident, a big two-way center, and he knew it. His role was mainly to put out the fires and jumpstart transition, a role I find he did quite well at. He’s got the anticipation to see the play, the physicality and defensive stick to make the turnover happen, and the passing chops to get the puck where it needs to be.
Outside of that, the cracks in Schenk’s game seemed to form. He’s not the strongest on-puck player. He lacks speed in his stride and generally struggles to control the puck in motion. While I haven’t gotten around to seeing him at the Q level yet, I imagine it would explain some of his early season struggles in North America.
That said, I did think his international performances have been good. Maybe someone gives him a shot due to his projectability as a bottom-6 forward. He has the size for it!
Andreas Straka - Québec Ramparts - C
Straka made me pause after I saw him attempt the Michigan in the Slovakian game vs. Germany, and considering he was a very high pick in the QMJHL import draft, I was looking forward to seeing how much skill he had to show.
If there was anything I learned from that viewing, it’s that Straka wants the puck on his stick all the time. Sometimes it’s well merited; in offensive transitions he was doing his best to make himself target to make sure that wish came true. When he does get the puck, Straka’s agility takes centerstage. He’s got the skating chops and deception to constantly shake off defenders and open play up. He also is a hound on the forecheck.
On the flipside, I was really let down by his defensive zone play. Straka doesn’t have the best straight-line speed and has to rely on out maneuvering defenders, and his quasi-solution to that problem was to constantly play really high-up. However, all that does is take away the space he has to accelerate, often leading him to take these weird routes.
I think Straka has a lot of skill, but I think he wants the puck a little bit too much. He can score all the Michigans he wants, but he can’t ignore half the ice to make it happen. Engaging with the whole game is something I am going to be keeping an eye on when I revisit him later.
Nathan LeCompte - Chicoutimi Saguenéens - D+
LeCompte is skilled and really smart. Reads the ice effectively and plays off his teammates really well. I just wasn’t really sold that there was a really good offensive player here in the NHL draft context. He holds his own just fine, but some all-around improvement will be needed for me to get confident in the upside.
Renaud Poulin - Drummondville Voltigeurs - D+
Poulin played with noticeable energy but regularly managed to get out of the puck’s way in the viewings I had. Mix that in with his lack of size and the already limited role he is playing and I don’t know how much upside he has. Maybe with an increased role, Poulin can find some momentum.
Watchlist
Alonso Gosselin (Chicoutimi Saguenéens)
Elliot Dube (Saint John Sea Dogs)
Liam Kilfoil (Halifax Mooseheads)
Mateo Nobert (Blainsville-Boisbriand Armada)
Nathan Quinn (Quebec Rampats)
Olivier Groulx (Saint John Sea Dogs)
Shawn Carrier (Halifax Mooseheads)
Will Reynolds (Acadie-Bathurst Titan)