QMJHL Draft Radar Scouting Report

It’s no secret that of the three major junior leagues in Canada, the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League is far and away the weakest of the three that make up the CHL.

Two summers ago, Jacob Titus of The Hockey News wrote a very interesting story consisting of the different reasons as to why the QMJHL has been on the decline over the years. Certain NHL teams haven't drafted a single player from this league in over a decade. Some scouts and other folks involved in hockey feel that the coaching in this league isn’t up to snuff while others feel the physical development, or perhaps lack there of, is another key factor. It’s worth noting that, in the summer of 2023, the league made the decision to ban fighting altogether. While that shouldn’t be a main factor, that’s surely something many in the hockey world take into consideration. 

While the league itself faces its own criticisms, one of the more obvious reasons for why in recent years there’s been such a drop off in talent is that at the start of last season, CHL players were given approval to play in the NCAA if they so choose. While that factor is not specific to just the QMJHL, you could make the case that it has affected them the most. 

In the last ten years, the New York Rangers have only drafted four players out of the QMJHL—most notably Alexis Lafrenière, who could go down as the last first overall pick to come out of the league altogether. Most recently, there was Raoul Boilard who the Rangers took in the fourth round of 2024 and has shown no indications of being ready for professional hockey any time soon. Then there was the younger Barbashev brother, Maxim (fifth round, 2022), who got an amateur tryout with the Hartford Wolf Pack but never signed with the Rangers and remains a fringe AHL/ECHL player. And lastly, Gabriel Fontaine, a 2016 sixth round pick who did spend parts of four seasons in Hartford, but eventually faded out of the picture and is now having success playing in Germany. 

All of that is pretty not great, but does prove that the Rangers, at least to some extent, haven’t fully ruled out drafting from the QMJHL—at least as clearly as other teams in the league may have. The point of this primer isn’t to tear apart the QMJHL or suggest that teams ignore their product completely. Contrary to certain belief, Lafrenière has turned into an effective player in the NHL, as have guys like Mavrik Bourgue, Jordan Spence, Drake Batherson, and, of course, Sidney Crosby, Nathan MacKinnon, Nico Hischier, Samuel Girard, and Marc-Andre Fleury. Nikita Kucherov and Ondrej Palat have even spent time in Quebec before making the jump to the NHL. 

Ahead of the 2026 draft class, there are only four players currently playing in the QMJHL that have a chance of going in the first round: Xavier Villeneuve, Yegor Shilov, Maddox Dagenais, and Tommy Bleyl. While there’s not a surplus of head turning talent, there are some interesting cases to make for each of these players and why they should be on the radar of NHL teams, including the Rangers. 

Xavier Villeneuve, Defenseman - Blainville-Boisbriand Armada, QMJHL 

What if I told you the Rangers could potentially draft with their later first round selection the second coming of Lane Hutson? You’d undoubtedly be pretty excited. Now, same question, but with the second coming of Zac Jones? You’d probably roll your eyes and then scream into the void.

I’m in no way suggesting Xavier Villeneuve is going to be exactly one of those two players, but he is a dynamic, highly skilled offensive-defenseman who is already drawing comparisons to Lane Hutson. As a result, Villeneuve may be a boom-or-bust type of prospect. But if he’s available to the Rangers late in the first round, they should be all over him. 

The infuriating thing is, they surely won’t. Not because he’s coming out of the QMJHL, but because he is undersized and not regarded as a physical player. At 5-11, 162 pounds, Villeneuve has a lot of bulking up to do, but also carries a ton of qualities that the Rangers are looking for. Chris Drury mentioned puck-moving defensemen as one of their most pressing needs this offseason and Villeneuve is exactly that. He's a dynamic puck mover that can generate offense, make plays, and skate exceptionally well, and has an incredibly high ceiling, but does come with a certain level of risk. 

Part of that risk can be tied to Villeneuve having played in only 37 games with Armada this season as a result of an injury suffered in early January. Beyond that, it is important to consider that he is a talented standout in a junior league. Recent QMJHL reputations aside, the jump from any of the CHL leagues to professional hockey is always a massive shift. If you take a look at Villeneuve’s highlight reel below, you’ll surely be impressed, but at the same time, you’ll be asking yourself, how much of that is going to be something he’s capable of doing in the NHL?

Villeneuve led Armada through the QMJHL playoffs as he collected six goals and eight assists for 14 points in 17 games played. His team fell short in Game 7 of the QMJHL semi-finals to the Moncton Wildcats. 

You can really get a sense of Villeneuve’s ability to skate and move with the puck in the 5-3 win against the Victoriaville Tigers in game one of the opening round of the series. The way he explodes from the defensive zone and generates a scoring chance off the rush is certainly impressive, but again, he's a big fish swimming in a small pond. He goes on to score twice in this game, once on a redirected shot from the point, the other from a more clean shot that trickled through the opposing goaltender. 

In Game 3 of the series, Villeneuve opened the scoring by commanding play at the point and again, letting a shot go that found its way home. He would have an assist later in the game on a similar play where he dances his way through the slot to let a shot go. Although this time around, it ends up blocked in front to set up a passing play for his teammates. 

He’s not a guy that’s going to play a stay-at-home, shutdown style of defense. But, if he becomes the player that many scouts envision him becoming, he could be as much as a top pair defenseman on an NHL team. The big question with him is, how much of that game can translate from the QMJHL to the NHL and will there be any stops in between? At the time of writing, there aren’t any rumblings about him potentially leaving Quebec to play in the NCAA, but you have to think that’s ultimately what the plan could, and should, be with a player like this. Perhaps that’s a decision that will come after or closer to the draft. But either way, this is a player that should draw a ton of intrigue from any teams in need of a gamebreaking defenseman.