2024 NHL Draft | 4 Wildcats on NHL’s Final Players to Watch List
The NHL Central Scouting has just released the final list of the top prospects to watch ahead of the 2024 NHL Entry Draft that will be held in Las Vegas on June 28-29.
The North American rankings feature a total of 35 QMJHL players that have garnered the attention of scouting experts during the 2023-24 season. Spencer Gill, the Rimouski Océanic’s top scoring defenseman, leads all QMJHL representatives at the 29th rank. Chicoutimi Saguenéens forward Maxim Massé, who comes in next at 30th, is also projected to go in the first round of the draft.
Forwards Eriks Mateiko of the Saint John Sea Dogs and Raoul Boilard of the Baie-Comeau Drakkar, as well as defensemen Tomas Lavoie of the Cape Breton Eagles and Alexis Bernier of the Drakkar, follow as potential second-round selections.
The QMJHL is also well represented in the goaltending department with four netminders ranked among the top 20. Zach Pelletier of the Gatineau Olympiques leads the way as the eighth-ranked goaltender in North America. With four players mentioned by NHL Central Scouting each, the Baie-Comeau Drakkar, Moncton Wildcats and Rimouski Océanic are the QMJHL franchises with the most prospects listed.
The third list of the season also features nine European-born prospects that chose to suit up in the QMJHL this year; forwards Jiri Klima (Czechia), Eriks Mateiko (Latvia), Matyas Melovsky (Czechia), Miles Mueller (Switzerland), Nikita Prishchepov (Russia), Peter Repcik (Slovakia) and Julius Sumpf (Germany), defenseman Jan Golicic (Slovenia) and goaltender Jakub Milota (Czechia).
Here are the QMJHL players listed in the NHL CSS’ final rankings:
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29 | GILL, Spencer – RIMOUSKI – D
30 | MASSÉ, Maxim – CHICOUTIMI – RW
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33 | MATEIKO, Eriks – SAINT JOHN – LW
51 | BOILARD, Raoul – BAIE-COMEAU – C
57 | LAVOIE, Tomas – CAPE BRETON – D
62 | BERNIER, Alexis – BAIE-COMEAU – D
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80 | MELOVSKY, Matyas – BAIE-COMEAU – C
81 | BLAIS, Alexandre – RIMOUSKI – C
82 | POIRIER, Justin – BAIE-COMEAU – RW
94 | SMITH, Gabe – MONCTON – C
96 | DESRUISSEAUX, Thomas – CHICOUTIMI – C
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105 | DESJARDINS, Vincent – BLAINVILLE-BOISBRIAND – C
106 | GOLICIC, Jan – GATINEAU – D
125 | BRUNELLE, Benjamin – ROUYN-NORANDA – RW
128 | L’ITALIEN, Eliot – BLAINVILLE-BOISBRIAND – C
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131 | KENNEDY, Quinn – RIMOUSKI – C
133 | LACERTE, Félix – SHAWINIGAN – RW
142 | KLIMA, Jiri – SHAWINIGAN – LW
149 | ROMEO, Lucas – CAPE BRETON – RW
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162 | LAFOND, Maxime – DRUMMONDVILLE – C
163 | PILOTE, Dominic – RIMOUSKI – LW
169 | CROSBY, Logan – HALIFAX – RW
180 | KEARSEY, Marcus – CHARLOTTETOWN – D
185 | BRUNET, Simon-Pier – DRUMMONDVILLE – D
188 | PRISHCHEPOV, Nikita – VICTORIAVILLE – C
189 | GENDRON, Justin – VICTORIAVILLE – RW
191 | REPCIK, Peter – DRUMMONDVILLE – C
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200 | SUMPF, Julius – MONCTON – C
205 | CLOUTIER, Pier-Étienne – QUEBEC – LW
210 | MUELLER, Miles – MONCTON – C
218 | HENNEBERRY, Joseph – VICTORIAVILLE – C
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8 | PELLETIER, Zach – GATINEAU – G
11 | ST-HILAIRE, Samuel – SHERBROOKE – G
12 | WARREN, Keegan – MONCTON – G
18 | MILOTA, Jakub – CAPE BRETON – G
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