96 QMJHL Alumni on NHL Opening Night Rosters

The National Hockey League revealed the rosters of its 31 franchises for the 2020-2021 regular season. Among them, you can find 96 players who suited up in the QMJHL before playing in the world’s greatest hockey league.

These former QMJHL players currently find themselves on their respective team’s active rosters, or on their taxi squads heading into the shortened 56-game campaign.

Only the Buffalo Sabres, Carolina Hurricanes, Edmonton Oilers, Los Angeles Kings, Minnesota Wild and Toronto Maple Leafs count no QMJHL alumni among their lineups.

On the flip side, the Boston Bruins have an impressive total of seven former QMJHL players within their core, the highest total of alumni within a single NHL squad. Close behind are the Florida Panthers, the Philadelphia Flyers and the Pittsburgh Penguins, who each have six players that once plied their trade in the Q.

At age 19, New York Rangers forward Alexis Lafreniere is the youngest QMJHL player currently playing in the NHL. The first overall pick of the latest NHL Entry Draft is also the only rookie skater to have earned a spot on his team’s starting roster this season.

Here is the list of QMJHL alumni currently in the NHL:

Anaheim Ducks (2)
Nicolas Deslauriers
(Taxi Squad: Maxime Comtois)

Arizona Coyotes (5)
Derick Brassard, Jason Demers, Conor Garland
(Taxi Squad: Michael Chaput, Frederik Gauthier)

Boston Bruins (7)
Patrice Bergeron, Charlie Coyle, Jaroslav Halak, David Krejci, Jeremy Lauzon, Brad Marchand, Jakub Zboril

Calgary Flames (1)
(Taxi Squad: Louis Domingue)

Chicago Blackhawks (3)
Matthew Highmore 
(Taxi Squad: Nicolas Beaudin, Philipp Kurashev)

Colorado Avalanche (3)
Samuel Girard, Ryan Graves, Nathan MacKinnon

Columbus Blue Jackets (4)
Pierre-Luc Dubois, Mikhail Grigorenko, David Savard
(Taxi Squad: Stefan Matteau)

Dallas Stars (1)
Alexander Radulov

Detroit Red Wings (4)
Jonathan Bernier, Adam Erne, Anthony Mantha, Filip Zadina

Florida Panthers (6)
Anthony Duclair, Jonathan Huberdeau, Samuel Montembeault, MacKenzie Weegar, Keith Yandle
(Taxi Squad: Philippe Desrosiers)

Montreal Canadiens (5)
Jake Allen, Paul Byron, Phillip Danault, Jonathan Drouin
(Taxi Squad: Michael Frolik)

Nashville Predators (3)
Yakov Trenin
(Taxi Squad: Alexandre Carrier, Mathieu Olivier)

New Jersey Devils (2)
Nico Hischier*, Dmitri Kulikov

New York Islanders (4)
Anthony Beauvillier, Noah Dobson, Ross Johnston, Jean-Gabriel Pageau

New York Rangers (2)
Julien Gauthier, Alexis Lafreniere

Ottawa Senators (5)
Drake Batherson, Thomas Chabot, Cédric Paquette
(Taxi Squad: Jonathan Aspirot, Filip Chlapik)

Philadelphia Flyers (6)
Nicolas Aube-Kubel, Sean Couturier, Claude Giroux, Philippe Myers, Jakub Voracek
(Taxi Squad: Samuel Morin)

Pittsburgh Penguins (6)
Sidney Crosby, Kristopher Letang
(Taxi Squad: Alex D’Orio, Frederick Gaudreau, Pierre-Olivier Joseph, Maxime Lagace)

San Jose Sharks (4)
Timo Meier, Marc-Edouard Vlasic
(Taxi Squad: Nicolas Meloche, Jeffrey Truchon-Viel)

St. Louis Blues (5)
Ivan Barbashev, Samuel Blais, Mike Hoffman, David Perron, Marco Scandella

Tampa Bay Lightning (5)
Yanni Gourde, Mathieu Joseph, Nikita Kucherov*, Ondrej Palat
(Taxi Squad: Christopher Gibson)

Vancouver Canucks (3)
Zack MacEwen, Antoine Roussel
(Taxi Squad: Guillaume Brisebois)

Vegas Golden Knights (5)
William Carrier, Marc-Andre Fleury, Jonathan Marchessault, Nicolas Roy
(Taxi Squad: Tomas Jurco)

Washington Capitals (2)
Daniel Sprong
(Taxi Squad: Zachary Fucale)

Winnipeg Jets (3)
Nathan Beaulieu, Nikolaj Ehlers, Mathieu Perreault