The QMJHL is experiencing an unprecedented premium on the few quality goaltenders within the league.
The perception that Québec is a haven for goaltenders is crumbling, and the evidence can already be found around the Québec Major Junior Hockey League.
Once considered the province's proudest National Hockey League export, junior teams now can't get enough goaltending imports. Three QMJHL teams sought external reinforcements in the past two weeks in what now appears to be a developing pattern.
Are the better goalies found as castoffs from the Ontario and Western leagues? Or are QMJHL teams crippled by the infrequent trade periods?
One of the three teams that made use of the waiver system/free agency are the Baie-Comeau Drakkar. The team claimed Jason Missiaen, an overage goalie unwanted in Peterborough and by all 19 other OHL teams, and quickly named him their starter.
The move is simplistic in that the Drakkar don't need to part with assets, but it also sends a clear message about the strength of the position when he's handed the starting job.
"It's easier to take a player on waivers than to make a trade," Drakkar general manager Steve Ahern explained.
Not that Ahern or any other QMJHL general manager could make a trade now, anyways. As per league rules, players can't be traded until Dec. 19, when the third and final trade period begins. The reason is with respect to schooling and avoiding player movement during the semester.
The exceptions are for overages and Europeans, who can be traded at any time.
The league instituted a new rule this season where any player in junior triple A can be traded at any time, but -- like all other trades -- those players can't be re-integrated into a new lineup until the trading period opens.
"It's hard," said Sylvain Couturier, general manager of the Acadie-Bathurst Titan. "The rules are strong and they're pretty hard to get around. It is difficult for any teams right now -- other than the 20-year olds -- to get players."
Regardless of the rules, the concern now is for the obvious lack of talented goaltenders around the league. Saint John picked up former Brandon Wheat King Jacob De Serres while the Moncton Wildcats signed former Windsor Spitfire Steve Gleeson.
The Wildcats are opting to go with two former OHL goaltenders in Gleeson and Shane Owen to replace the departed Nicola Riopel.
It's a far cry from the days of Patrick Roy, Martin Brodeur and Roberto Luongo -- all graduates from the QMJHL.
Halifax's Mathieu Corbeil-Thériault was the first goalie drafted from the QMJHL last year, taken in the fourth round by Columbus. Five goaltenders were drafted ahead of him, while the QMJHL hasn't produced a first-round goalie since 2006, when the Los Angeles Kings drafted Jonathan Bernier 11th overall.
It's merely a matter of the cycle, Ahern predicts.
"In the past 10 years all the good goalie coaches (moved on) to the higher leagues," he said. "We have a lot of young goaltending coaches (in the league). I think in two, three years, the goaltenders will probably be better than the three past years."
In the meantime, it places an unprecedented premium on the few quality goaltenders within the league. The Titan traded two first-round picks, a second, third and fifth-round picks to the Lewiston MAINEiacs for Olivier Roy at the QMJHL draft in the summer.
Roy is the undisputed top goaltender in the league and front-runner to claim Canada's starting job at the world junior championships in December. The drop off between Roy and the next best goaltender was so vast, the Titan didn't bother looking at any other options when trading for a goalie.
"Our options were really limited," Couturier explained. "There's not a lot of (quality) goalies around the league this year. We're sure glad to have the best in Olivier Roy."
Even Couturier was willing to admit the price he paid was steep. But the returns have been immediate and given the Titan the opportunity to contend in the Maritimes Division.
"He's dominant," Couturier said. "(The trade is) worth it so far. We expect to lose him to the world juniors at Christmas, but we got him for a reason and so far he's been delivering."
The Titan, like the Drakkar, will carry three goalies from now until the trading period re-opens on Dec. 19. It's hardly an ideal situation, but their hands are forced by the league's current rules.
But the way so many teams have sought goaltending castoffs from other leagues makes one wonder whether there will even be a market for their goalies when the QMJHL trading period opens.
