QMJHL Standouts
An early look at Warren, Luneau, Boutin, Verreault, Côté, Peddle, Roy, and Kidney.
Of all the non-NHL leagues, I’ve watched the most of the QMJHL to start the scouting season, which is mainly a result of the media pass I have from the Gatineau Olympiques as a result of the Puck and Roll podcast I’m a part of. I’ve watched four Gatineau games so far, one of which I attended, and already have some preliminary observations that each game further entrenched.
This may not be a popular opinion, but I have liked Noah Warren’s play a whole lot more than Tristan Luneau’s; I think it’s more effective in the ‘Q and that it’s more translatable to pro hockey. Both are right-shot defensemen for the Olympiques and were selected eighth and first overall in the 2020 QMJHL draft respectively. While Warren’s profile is not one I typically gravitate to — he’s a massive, physical, and primarily defensive defenseman, which is typically adored by NHL scouts rather than more progressive scouts — he has impressed with every viewing.
Warren’s 6’5” frame is an asset, but it’s not what makes him good, which is important. Warren is good because he is highly intelligent in the defensive zone, which sticks out in the ‘Q. His positioning is phenomenal, he wins just about every puck battle he gets into, and he skates well enough to catch up to forwards and he can bring the puck up the ice all on his own when he wants to. I also think there’s some offence in him. He’s been elevated to the second powerplay unit due to some stellar play, and he’s looked good. He has a pretty big shot, but his passing on the PP has been surprisingly good.
Warren is good at almost everything and he’s great in the defensive zone and on his feet, which makes me comfortable projecting him to becoming an NHL player, and I like his chances of at least turning into a reliable #4 with upside for more if he continues the way he’s playing. Tristan Luneau, who is more highly touted has been a bit underwhelming, to me at least. He isn’t the most reliable player in the defensive zone — he gets overwhelmed by forecheckers quite easily — and his pivots can be painful to watch, which is odd for a defenseman as quick and dynamic as Luneau in transition with the puck on his stick.
Luneau hasn’t been bad. He’s just been subtly decent and hasn’t really demonstrated a standout skill apart from carrying the puck up the ice, which is certainly valuable, but it has to be paired with either offensive or defensive strength, neither of which has really wowed me as of yet. There was a play against Sherbrooke when he was QB’ing the PP, where the puck bobbled on him and his awkward pivot forced him to take a penalty to prevent a breakaway. There are pros and cons with Luneau and he hasn’t shown me much of his upside just yet. But a whole lot of games remain, so that could quickly change.
Another Olympique defenseman I’d like to mention is an overage, Olivier Boutin. The 5’9” left defenseman has been quietly excellent in each of my viewings and has spent a lot of time with Noah Warren. I’m not sure if one elevates the play of the other, but both have individually impressed me. Boutin strikes me as one of those players who end up making the NHL in a bottom-pairing role, but who truly excel in it. He’s a very smart and reliable player. His stickwork is highly effective and his entire defensive zone play is impressive. He’s integral to the Gatineau PK and has gotten PP2 time. He likely won’t get dated due to his size, but he really deserves to be, he’s really good.
The last Gatineau player I’ll cover is Antonin Verreault, who I both love and am hesitant about. He’s fun to watch. Every game, he has a shift or two where he just seizes control, in a dominant Mooseheads Jonathan Drouin fashion. The skill is there, and he does go to the dirty areas. It’s just that both of those things are inconsistent, and when paired with his very small frame of 5’8” and 163 lbs, which is easily physically overwhelmed, and you have yourself a kind of boom or bust player. He’s not especially proficient in the defensive zone and I just can’t see him adapting to the playstyle required for a bottom-6 player in the NHL. He could become a creative and skilled second-line playmaker, but he could just as easily cap out as an AHL producer.
Justin Côté is another undersized producer in the ‘Q, but one I have far fewer reservations about. This comes down, mainly, to his tenacity. He gets to the dirty areas consistently and he worked harder than any of his Drummondville teammates in the two-and-a-half games I’ve watched this season. He certainly plays (and looks slightly) bigger than his official 5’6”, 163 lbs frame. He also has a wicked shot, which he can really fire off from the bumper position on the PP. While unconventional for a player of his stature, and not something I think is particularly translatable to the NHL, where I’d prefer him on the right circle for a one-timer, it works in the ‘Q quite well.
Côté has also shown some smart passing ability, especially in transition, be it as a breakout pass or in a creative give-and-go, which is promising. His defensive coverage isn’t all that refined, but he has decent defensive instincts and his tenacity helps. He can lose his man in the defensive zone, which happened in 3v3 OT vs Rouyn Noranda, a game Drummondville won in the shootout after Côté scored the equalizer on the PP in the 3rd period. He’s a personal favourite of mine, as he’s effective and is likely to slip far further than he should on draft day, just as he did in the QMJHL draft.
His teammate, Tyler Peddle is a D-1 and a certified sniper — which Côté is, too. While Peddle’s 8 goals in 12 games sound amazing, especially for a 2005-born player, his 2 assists, general off-puck play and skating offer some more context on the player. Peddle has a great shot; he’s always scored around 2 goals for every assist. But his passing vision, both in the offensive zone and in transition is inconsistent at best and ineffective at worst. He’s also one of the lowest-effort players I’ve seen in the QMJHL this season. Maybe he’s battling an injury or my small sample casts an inaccurate image of him, but that worries me, even as a D-1.
I don’t think I’ve seen him sprint a single time, and if I have, I’m almost more worried, because his skating has been very slow, laborious and lazy. He’s also constantly puck-watching in the defensive zone, not even searching for an opposing player to cover. While the goalscoring talent is certainly there, and he could likely be turned into a PP specialist in pro hockey even with his current flaws, he could be so much more if he just puts some energy into his play. The passing and skating issues would remain, but he could at least become a neutral-impact player off the puck. Still a fascinating player to keep an eye on, who I’m hoping makes me regret most of the words I wrote here.
Joshua Roy, who the Habs selected 150th overall in 2021, is such an interesting player to me. His training camp with the Habs was shockingly great, his off-puck movement offensively and defensively and his effort level were all hugely improved from what I saw with him in the ‘Q last season, which wasn’t much. He has started this season very well in the ‘Q as well, with 7 goals and 19 points in 11 games; he’s tied for third in the league in points.
While that production is phenomenal, he has really only popped off the screen on the powerplay in my viewings. He’s been a bit invisible at even strength in the two games I’ve watched, which isn’t ideal, but there were still bright spots. His effort level and overall motor and fitness are undoubtedly way higher than they were last year. And he’s been phenomenal on the PP. He’s the designated triggerman and his movement has been fun to watch. I think he needs a handful of years of refinements, especially considering that he was very young in his draft class, but there’s an interesting sniper here.
Riley Kidney is the final player I’ll look at in this post. His selection in the second round wasn’t one I’d have made, I had him ranked in my fourth round. He had tremendous playoff production, and he has all the makings of a high-end junior producer, I’m just really unsure of his projectability, as he’s almost exclusively a perimeter playmaker and scorer. I’ve seen him hold on to the puck and circle around the offensive zone, but he never cuts to the inside or initiates contact to get high-danger opportunities, which worries me. While his production has been great this season, his 17 points are tied for 8th in the league, this same inability to attack the middle of the ice has persisted. There have been flashes of willingness to do so, which normally resulted in a goal, but there’s no consistency or regularity there. Hopefully he proves me wrong, but I’d have loved for the Habs to pick up Stanislav Svozil, Simon Robertsson or Brent Johnson in that slot.
It should be noted that my scouting for the season has just begun and these observations could quickly be rendered obsolete, but I still thought it worthwhile to write about, as these are some of the more interesting QMJHL cases I’ve come across so far.