QMJHL Players of the Month | January 2026
- Forward of the Month
Philippe Veilleux – Val-d’Or Foreurs – 12GP, 10G, 13A, 23Pts
The Foreurs put together a successful month of January and Philippe Veilleux was one of the key factors behind it. The 18-year-old from St-Bruno-de-Montarville, Quebec was held off the scoresheet in the Foreurs’ first game of the new year. That would be it for containing the dazzling third-year winger, who enters February on an 11-game point streak. Included in that run are eight multi-point efforts. The high point occurred on the 15th, when Veilleux scored his second hat trick of the season and added an assist against Saint John. The following night, versus Rouyn-Noranda, Veilleux scored a first period power play marker for his 200th regular season QMJHL point. He then proceeded to close out January with seven points in three games, while the Foreurs went 10-2-0-0 on the month to propel themselves up in the Western Conference standings.
Veilleux concludes January having opened up a ten-point lead in the QMJHL scoring race with 77 points in 46 games. A first-round selection of the Foreurs at the 2023 QMJHL Entry Draft, Veilleux has been held off the scoresheet just six times all season entering the month of February.
Honorable Mention
Maxime Coursol – Val-d’Or Foreurs – 12GP, 10G, 11A, 21Pts
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- Defenseman of the Month
Xavier Daigle – Val-d’Or Foreurs – 10GP, 5G, 6A, 11Pts
Xavier Daigle has moved around this year. However, in Val-d’Or, he’s felt right at home. In his first ten games with the Foreurs, the 20-year-old from Levis, Quebec has nearly doubled his point total for the season. In his second game with the Foreurs, in Rouyn-Noranda on the 9th, the fourth-year veteran became the 11th blueliner, and first in three seasons, to record a hat trick for the club. He would follow that up with three more multi-point outings during the month. He’d find his groove on special teams as well, recording first a power play marker, then a shorthanded tally in back-to-back games versus Rimouski on the 29th and 30th, respectively. Daigle registered an even plus/minus rating or better on eight occasions during the month, finishing January with a +6 mark overall.
Originally drafted in the second round at the 2021 QMJHL Entry Draft by the Cape Breton Eagles, Daigle was dealt early in the campaign by the Eagles to Chicoutimi, who, in turn, traded him to the Foreurs during the holiday trade period. His eight goals on the year already represent a personal single season high.
Honorable Mention
Marc-Olivier Beaudry – Drummondville Voltigeurs – 9GP, 4G, 4A, 8Pts
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- Rookie of the Month
Egor Shilov – Victoriaville Tigres – 11GP, 5G, 14A, 19Pts
After sitting on the sidelines last spring, the Tigres enter the final full month of the QMJHL regular season with a playoff spot firmly in hand. Egor Shilov seems determined to ensure that will remain the case in mid-March, as well. The 17-year-old from Tyumen, Russia built upon an already impressive freshman campaign in the first month of 2026, recording seven multi-point games while putting together what would become a 14-game point streak, the second-longest such run for a Tigres rookie ever. Shilov’s month included a pair of three-point outings, the first of which included a game-winning tally against the powerful Chicoutimi Saguenéens on the 4th. Then there’s his impressive work in the faceoff circle; of the 211 draws taken by Shilov during the month, he was successful on almost 60 percent of them.
Selected third overall at the 2025 CHL Import Draft by the Tigres, Shilov leads all QMJHL rookies with 62 points in 45 games. In the NHL’s most recent rankings for the 2026 NHL Entry Draft, Shilov stands 17th among all North American skaters.
Honorable Mention
Jan Larys – Drummondville Voltigeurs – 5-0-0-1, 2.60 GAA, .914 SV%, 1 SO
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- Goaltender of the Month
William Lacelle – Rimouski Océanic/Blainville-Boisbriand Armada – 6-1-1-0, 1.37 GAA, .946 SV%, 3 SO
The Blainville-Boisbriand Armada has been forced, largely due to injuries, to juggle its goaltending situation this season. In acquiring William Lacelle at the holiday trade deadline, the club now has the issue in hand. After starting the month with a 31-save victory in his farewell game as a member of the Océanic, the 18-year-old from Gatineau, Quebec rattled off five straight victories entering February. Three of those six wins were shutouts; a 17-save triumph over Cape Breton on the 11th, a 23-save effort against Rouyn-Noranda on the 22nd in which Lacelle also picked up an assist for his efforts, and a 32-save whitewash of Québec, on the 30th. The shutout over the Huskies was also his 50th career regular season win in the ‘Q’. Six of Lacelle’s January starts produced a save percentage of .957% or better.
Originally drafted tenth overall by the Océanic at the 2023 QMJHL Draft, Lacelle currently leads the league in save percentage (.923%) while also sitting tied for first with five shutouts. He is currently ranked 6th among all North American goaltenders in the latest prospect list for the 2026 NHL Entry Draft.
Honorable Mention
Mathys Fernandez – Shawinigan Cataractes – 6-3-0-0, 2.45 GAA, .928 SV%
