January was the best month of Blainville-Boisbriand Armada forward Nikita Jevpalov’s career. The Latvian had 10 goals and 25 points in 12 games, highlighted by a two-goal, two-assist performance against the Rimouski Océanic January 23. Now in his third season, the 6-foot-1, 210-lb. player is fourth in the league with 74 points. His individual performance has helped push the Armada to the top of the West Division and they are tied with Rimouski for the league lead with 67 points. Jevpalov, who received an invite to Philadelphia Flyers training camp in the fall, was rewarded for his efforts with an entry-level contract from the San Jose Sharks last week.
Teammate Danick Martel also enjoyed a productive January, putting up 25 points of his own on the month. Shawinigan Cataractes center Anthony Beauvillier saw his NHL draft stock rise in January with a 25-point performance as well.
The top performing rookie in January was Québec Remparts winger Dmytro Timashov. The Ukrainian born Swedish national had three goals and 17 points. Right behind him was Screaming Eagles winger Pierre-Luc Dubois, the fifth overall pick of the 2014 Q draft. He had a goal and 14 points. Potential NHL first-rounder Filip Chlapik of the Charlottetown Islanders also had 14 points and had the most rookie goals of the month with eight.
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Through five months of the season, the Rimouski Océanic, Moncton Wildcats and Blainville-Boisbriand Armada sit atop their divisions and all have 67 points.
Here’s what you need to know from around the Q this week:
Maritimes Division
Moncton Wildcats winger Ivan Barbashev was having a quiet January after returning from playing for Russia at the world juniors. After averaging 1.68 points per game all season, he only had five points in nine games. But the St. Louis Blues second-round pick showed signs of heating up again, piling up five assists in an 8-5 win over the Baie-Comeau Drakkar. After lopsided losses to Blainville-Boisbriand (8-3), Rimouski (7-3) and Cape Breton (7-1) the past two weeks, the Wildcats appear to be back on track now having won three in a row. Two of those wins are against the last-place Acadie-Bathurst Titan, but the win over the fourth-place Drakkar could be a sign of the Cats getting hot.
The Cape Breton Screaming Eagles continue to improve, picking up nine of their 21 wins in the month of January. While the trio duo of Russians Maxim Lazarev and Evgeny Svechnikov with hometown leader Kyle Farrell has been playing well of late, rookie Pierre-Luc Dubois has taken a big step forward. The 6-foot-1, 180-lb. left-winger was the fifth-overall pick of the 2014 QMJHL draft and in the month of January, he scored a goal, added 13 assists and was plus nine. Heading into the new year, he had 22 points and was minus four. While playing for College Notre-Dame Albatros in the QMAAA last season, he had 38 points in 40 games. Now playing at a higher level, he’s scoring at a similar pace with 36 points in 38 games in his rookie season in the Q. Draft eligible in 2016, Dubois is a name to watch over the next year.
Charlottetown Islanders teammates and linemates Daniel Sprong and Filip Chlapik could both go in the first round of the NHL draft this June. Through five months, the two have nearly identical numbers and it’s hard to say who will be selected first. Sprong leads the team with 25 goals and 57 points in 50 games. Chlapik has 24 goals and 55 points in 46 games. Sprong is ranked No. 20 by NHL Central Scouting while Chlapik is ranked 17th. This week, Sprong scored three goals while Chlapik picked up a goal and an assist. Sprong had 15 points in January, Chlapik 14. Meanwhile the Islanders continue to play well, picking up points in eight of their past 10 games, six of them wins.
East Division
On Saturday Anthony Duclair had his best game since being returned to the Quebec Remparts after the world juniors with two goals and two assists in a 9-4 dismantling of the quickly sinking Victoriaville Tigres. Zach Fucale started the game, but was yanked after giving up four goals on 13 shots. Callum Booth came on in relief, closing out the game with 15 saves while his teammates buried goal after goal. Duclair also scored on Tuesday, a 5-2 loss to Drummondville. The loaded Remparts struggled with consistency in January, picking up five wins and losing seven. They also struggled on the road, only picking up one win, a 3-2 shootout win in the outdoor game against Shawinigan, away from the Colisee Pepsi.
Baie-Comeau Drakkar goalie Philippe Cadorette may have dropped two games, including an 8-5 loss to Moncton in which he let in eight goals, but he was extremely during a swing through the Maritimes. On Thursday he faced 26 shots, letting four in as the team dropped a 5-1 decision to Charlottetown. The next night Moncton unloaded 46 shots, the 8-5 loss. Finally, in his third consecutive night between the pipes, Cadorette turned away 38 pucks in a 2-1 win over Halifax. He had a good January for the Drakkar—a team that relies heavily on their starter—picking up eight wins to go along with five losses. His performance has helped push the Drakkar up the standings, they now sit in fourth place with 63 points.
Frederik Guathier continues to produce for the Rimouski Oceanic since returning from playing for Canada’s world junior team. This week he picked up two goals and four points in 9-3 blowout of Victoriaville. He added an assist the next night in a 4-3 win over Shawinigan, extending his point streak to seven games. During that time, the Toronto Maple Leafs first-round pick has five goals and six assists.
West Division
Goalie Samuel Montembeault and the Blainville-Boisbriand Armada bounced back from a 4-3 shootout loss against Sherbrooke with a 4-0 blanking of the Saint John Sea Dogs. It was the 6-foot-3, 166-lb. goalie’s second shutout of the season. He was the third ranked goalie in NHL Central Scouting’s midseason rankings, one spot behind Quebec’s Callum Booth. In January, Montembeault was solid for the Armada, picking up seven wins and only two losses. His 2.67 GAA and .892 save percentage for the month would have been much better if not for a three goals on nine shots against Victoriaville.
After losing top D-man and potential NHL first-rounder Jeremy Roy, the Sherbrooke Phoenix have ripped off five wins in a row. Roy was injured January 23 and remained out of the lineup this week. Jeremie Fraser of the Val-d’Or Foreurs was suspended five games for the hit that knocked Roy out of the lineup.
Despite being in 12th place in the standings, Val-d’Or leads the QMJHL in goal-scoring with 201. The defending Q champs have four players with 20 or more goals: Anthony Richard (33), Julien Gauthier (33), Nicolas Aube-Kubel (25) and Pierre-Maxime Poudrier (21). Inversely, the Foreurs have allowed a league-high 213 goals. Between Etienne Montpetit and Edmonton Oilers seventh-round pick Keven Bouchard, the team has struggled to find consistency between the pipes.
Three Stars
Dmytro Timashov, LW, Québec Remparts With a five point week, Timashov continues to run away with the rookie scoring race. This week, he was named the first star against Victoriaville after scoring two goals and adding two assists in a 9-4 win. He’s up to 71 points on the season. Sherbrooke’s Kay Schweri is a distant second with 58 points.
Michael Joly, RW, Rimouski Oceanic A short-handed goal along with an even-strength marker on Saturday earned Joly the first star of the game in a close 4-3 win over Shawinigan. The night before, he was named the game’s third star after scoring a goal in a 9-3 win over Victoriaville.
Nikolaj Ehlers, RW, Halifax Mooseheads On Friday, he opened the scoring with a short-handed goal by banking the puck off the goalie from behind the net. He finished the night with two goals and an assist. Then, in a 2-1 loss to Baie-Comeau, Ehlers scored again. He now has points in 24 consecutive games, picking up 58 points.
2015 NHL Draft Watch
Loik Leveille, D, Cape Breton Screaming Eagles After bouncing around the league the previous two seasons, Leveille is enjoying his best campaign. He’s third in D-man scoring with eight goals and 40 points. January was his best month of the season: three goals and 13 points. The 6-foot, 220-lb. player has good hands and speed, possessing the ability to join the rush but also to get back and protect the puck defensively. He was originally selected fifth overall by Baie-Comeau in 2012 and was later traded to Chicoutimi in his rookie season. Last season, he was acquired by Cape Breton. Earlier this month, NHL Central Scouting placed him 91st in its mid-term rankings.