Fourteen of the the best players in the QMJHL got to show off their skills on the national stage last at the BMO CHL/NHL Top Prospects game. It turned out to be a lopsided affair, Saint John Sea Dogs centre Nathan Noel had a goal, Chicoutimi centre Nic Roy had an assist, and Halifax Mooseheads forward Timo Meier had a goal and two assists while playing alongside OHL superstar Connor McDavid for Team Orr in a 6-0 win.
It was a big week for Meier, who was the top ranked forward in the QMJHL in NHL Central Scouting’s Midterm Rankings released on Tuesday. The 6-foot-1, 184-lb. power forward is ranked No. 12. The highest ranked player in the QMJHL is defenceman Jakub Zboril, who comes in at No. 11. He was named to the Top Prospects Game, but was forced to miss it because of injury. Callum Booth of the Québec Remparts is the highest ranked goalie, No. 2 among the players at his position. A total of 42 skaters and four goalies from the Q were ranked. The Saint John Sea Dogs lead the way with nine. Behind Zboril is Thomas Chabot (14), Adam Marsh (42), Noel (55), Samuel Dove-McFalls (73), Jack Van Boekel (126), Spencer Smallman (146), Bailey Webster (148) and Jason Bell (196).
What you need to know from around the Q
Maritimes Division
Kevin Resop has once again been pushed into starting duties for the Halifax Mooseheads after the recently acquired Eric Brassard suffered an injury Friday. While going post-to-post, Brassard made a save but went down in pain immediately. The severity of his injury won’t be known until he’s evaluated in Halifax after returning from the road trip. Resop was pushed into the starting role in December while Zach Fucale was playing for Canada at the world juniors. He returned to the backup role after Fucale was traded to Québec for Brassard and draft picks. Despite only scoring one goal in the 6-1 loss to the Remparts, both Nikolaj Ehlers and Meier extended their point streaks. Ehlers has 54 points in 22 games, while Meier has 33 in 16.
A pair of Russians continue to score for the surging Cape Breton Screaming Eagles, winners of eight of their past 10. Maxim Lazarev’s hat trick Saturday led the team to a 7-1 win over the division-leading Moncton Wildcats. Lazarev also had assists in two games against Saint John, a 6-4 loss and a 4-1 win. He has 10 points in his past six games. Evgeny Svechnikov, fourth in rookie scoring with 48 points, had a goal and two assists and now has 12 points in January. He was ranked No. 21 in NHL Central Scouting’s midterm rankings.
East Division
Outdoor games have been a regular part of the NHL for over a decade now, but until this weekend, no QMJHL game had been played outdoors. The Shawinigan Cataractes hosted a pair of outdoor games in the town of Saint-Tite, best known for a Western-themed festival every summer. Shawinigan Victoriaville 4-2 Friday in front of 5,996 fans. Anthony Beauvillier, captain of Team Cherry in the Top Prospects Game the night before, led the way with a goal and three assists. On Saturday night, 7,323 fans were treated to an entertaining game with Quebec rallying back from 2-0 to win in a shootout. Beauvillier once again was the game’s best player, picking up a goal and assist. He’s been a force to be reckoned with in January, scoring six goals and 22 points in just nine games. The 5-foot-10, 181-lb forward now has 72 points on the season, smashing his rookie totals of 33 points in 64 games last year. He is ranked No. 49 by NHL Central Scouting. Teammate Dennis Yan is also enjoying a productive January: scoring a goal in each of the outdoor games, he has 11 points on the month, and is ranked No. 35.
The Victoriaville Tigres were sellers at the trade deadline and are subsequently stumbling towards the cellar of the standings. They now dropped six straight games and have only won two of 10 in 2015. They almost beat one of the league’s best, Blainville-Boisbriand Armada, but eventually lost in overtime. Gabriel Gagné, a 6-foot-5, 183-lb. right winger for the Tigres, is ranked No. 48 by NHL Central Scouting and is one of the biggest players in the league. Now in his second full season, Gagné has surpassed his rookie totals of 37 points with 26 goals and 40 points.
Home has been sweet for the Baie-Comeau Drakkar who have played and won five straight in their barn. Last week, the Drakkar pushed Rouyn-Noranda around, beating them 6-1 and 6-3 in back-to-back games. Centre Maxime St-Cyr led the way with a hat trick Saturday followed by a pair of goals on Sunday. Jérémy Grégoire, a sixth-round pick of the Montreal Canadiens in 2013, has been dominant for the Drakkar after missing the first half of the season with an injury. Since returning after Christmas, Grégoire has eight goals and 11 assists in 13 games. He picked up three goals and five helpers in the games against Rouyn-Noranda.
West Division
The Sherbrooke Phoenix will be without defenceman Jérémy Roy for a week after he suffered a leg injury. Roy, a potential first-rounder in the upcoming NHL Draft, missed games against Halifax and Blainville-Boisbriand. The Phoenix still won both. Kay Schweri was the hero against Blainville, scoring a natural hat trick, including a power-play goal with under two minutes left and the overtime winner. The Swiss rookie has been an assist machine this season, averaging more than a helper a game. Before his hat trick this week, he’d only scored seven goals. Despite the solid numbers, an appearance in the world juniors and “C” ranking by NHL Central Scouting earlier this year, Schweri was not included in Central Scouting’s midterm rankings. The injured Roy is ranked No. 23, while center Gabriel Fontaine is ranked 130th.
Third-year player Nikita Jevpalov is in the midst of the best month of his junior career. The Blainville-Boisbriand Armada winger scored a goal in all three games he played last week, including two-goal efforts against Rimouski and Sherbrooke. The 6-foot-1, 210-lb. forward has 10 goals and 22 points in 10 January contests. Jevpalovs, from Riga Latvia, was a first-round pick by the Armada in the 2012 Euro draft. He received an invite to Philadelphia Flyers training camp this past fall and will certainly get another crack with an NHL team for 2015-16. Last season, he had 54 points in 61 games. This year, he’s averaging 1.58 points per game and is fourth in league scoring with 71 points in 45 games.
Three Stars
Anthony Beauvillier, C, Shawinigan Cataractes Sophomore centre Beauvillier had a week he’ll never forget. First, he captained Team Cherry in the Top Prospects Game. Second, he played in two outdoor games. He picked up two goals and four assists in the two games and was named the first star in both.
Nikita Jevpalov, LW, Blainville-Boisbriand Armada Jevpalovs had five goals and three assists in three games , helping the Armada pick up five of a possible six points. Jevpalovs was named the first star in a 6-3 win over Rimouski, first star in a 4-3 win over Victoriville and second star in a 4-3 overtime loss to Sherbrooke.
Nathan Noel, C, Saint John Sea Dogs The Cape Breton Screaming Eagles have been soaring lately, but they were cut down almost single-handedly by Nathan Noel who had four goals in a 6-4 comeback win. Nathan Noel picked up an assist the next night, a 4-1 loss in a rematch against Cape Breton.