2024 NHL Draft | 36 QMJHLers on NHL’s Initial Players to Watch List
The NHL Central Scouting has just released it’s first list of the season featuring the top prospects to watch ahead of next June’s 2024 NHL Entry Draft.
The list features a total of 36 QMJHL players that have garnered the attention of scouting experts so far this year. From that group, Chicoutimi Saguenéens forward and last season’s QMJHL Rookie of the Year, Maxim Massé, is the lone QMJHLer to receive an “A” rating as a potential first-round selection.
Forward Raoul Boilard of the Baie-Comeau Drakkar as well as defenseman Tomas Lavoie of the Cape Breton Eagles follow with a “B” rating.
As for goaltenders, four of the QMJHL’s masked men have been named to the initial list. Cape Breton’s Jakub Milota and Zach Pelletier of the Gatineau Olympiques have received a “C” rating, while Samuel St-Hilaire of the Sherbrooke Phoenix and Keegan Warren of the Moncton Wildcats are in the limited viewing category.
The preliminary list also includes seven prospects chosen at the CHL Import Draft that are currently suiting up in the Q. These Europeans are Jan Golicic (Gatineau), Jiri Klima (Shawinigan), Ondrej Maruna (Charlottetown), Eriks Mateiko (Saint John), Matyas Melovsky (Baie-Comeau), Jakub Milota (Cape Breton) and Yannik Ponzetto (Halifax).
With four players mentioned by NHL Central Scouting, the Baie-Comeau Drakkar and Rimouski Océanic are the QMJHL franchises with the most prospects listed.
Here are the QMJHL players on the initial list of the NHL CSS:
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A | MASSÉ, Maxim – CHICOUTIMI – RW
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B | BOILARD, Raoul – BAIE-COMEAU – C
B | LAVOIE, Tomas – CAPE BRETON – D
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C | BERNIER, Alexis – BAIE-COMEAU – D
C | CROSBY, Logan – HALIFAX – RW
C | DESRUISSEAUX, Thomas – CHICOUTIMI – C
C | GENDRON, Justin – VICTORIAVILLE – RW
C | GILL, Spencer – RIMOUSKI – D
C | L’ITALIEN, Eliot – BLAINVILLE-BOISBRIAND – C
C | LACERTE, Félix – SHAWINIGAN – RW
C | LAFOND, Maxime – DRUMMONDVILLE – C
C | MATEIKO, Eriks – SAINT JOHN – LW
C | MELOVSKY, Matyas – BAIE-COMEAU – C
C | MILOTA, Jakub – CAPE BRETON – G
C | PELLETIER, Zach – GATINEAU – G
C | POIRIER, Justin – BAIE-COMEAU – RW
C | SMITH, Gabe – MONCTON – C
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W | BLAIS, Alexandre – RIMOUSKI – C
W | BRUNET, Simon-Pier – DRUMMONDVILLE – D
W | CLOUTIER, Pier-Étienne – QUEBEC – LW
W | DESJARDINS, Vincent – BLAINVILLE-BOISBRIAND – C
W | DORION, Antoine – QUEBEC – C
W | GOLICIC, Jan – GATINEAU – D
W | GOYETTE, LoÏc – DRUMMONDVILLE – LW
W | GUY, Alexandre – VAL-D’OR – RW
W | KEARSEY, Marcus – CHARLOTTETOWN – D
W | KENNEDY, Quinn – RIMOUSKI – C
W | KLIMA, Jiri – SHAWINIGAN – LW
W | MARUNA, Ondrej – CHARLOTTETOWN – LW
W | MICHAUD, Alexis – CHARLOTTETOWN – RW
W | PHILLIPS, Owen – HALIFAX – D
W | PILOTE, Dominic – RIMOUSKI – LW
W | PONZETTO, Yannik – HALIFAX – LW
W | ST-HILAIRE, Samuel – SHERBROOKE – G
W | WARREN, Keegan – MONCTON – G
W | YUZIK, Brett – SHAWINIGAN – RW
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Click here to see the full list.
*Players with an “A” rating are projected as first round picks, players with a “B” rating are projected as second or third round selections while players with a “C” rating are candidates for rounds four or five. Prospects with the “W” ranking are either projected for rounds six and seven or are still under watch because of limited scouting history.