2024 NHL Draft player profile: Miguel Marques, Lethbridge Hurricanes

Matt Anholt is pretty blunt- and excited- when it comes to describing top 2024 NHL Draft prospect Miguel Marques’ game.

“He’s a buzzsaw,” the Lethbridge Hurricanes associate coach said. “One of the best guys I’ve seen at our level in a long time.”

Marques has popped for the Canes since he was selected with the tenth overall pick in the 2021 WHL Prospects Draft, which was held in December of that year.

Anholt admits the team was surprised they were able to get him at tenth- they were so eager to see what Marques could do, they flew him out to suit up in the very next game.

“They put a lot of trust in me while I was 15,” Marques recalled. “I played the game right after the draft. The next day they flew me out and I played that game. Just a whirlwind weekend. It’s something that’s special because my family came out with me, too. It’s something that I’ll never forget.”

Since breaking into the league full-time as a 16-year-old, Marques has risen to the steep learning curve, putting teams on notice with his sheer speed and playmaking ability.

But the Lethbridge staff noticed he was prepared to hit another level entering his draft season.

“I remember (Head Coach) Bill Peters pulled Miggy into the coach’s office after the first session, and said, ‘How much do you weigh right now?’ Anholt recalled. “He said, ‘Well, probably about 170’. and Bill said, ‘Well, you might be 160 by the end of the year because you’re going to play a ton this season’.”

The fleet-footed winger would embark on a breakout season that saw him register 28 goals (including a team-leading four game-winners) and 46 assists for 74 points in 67 games- nearly tripling his point total from the previous campaign.

Lethbridge’s coaches are already envisioning a potential move to centre and an increased role on the penalty kill so see how much further his game could grow.

“He’s just allowed me to kind of be myself and play my game,” Marques said. “Ever since we had those conversations my confidence just kept growing. He allowed me to play, put me in different situations all throughout the season. I think just him having faith and trust in me was something that allowed me to keep playing and not get discouraged.”

Another notable aspect of his game is his penchant for getting under an opponent’s skin- something that has drawn comparisons to a notable CHL graduate.

“A lot of NHL scouts right now like to compare him to Travis Konecny in Philadelphia, where he can kind of play a little bit of a ‘rat’ role, but also a very offensively-minded winger,” Anholt explained. “Miggy likes to play in the fabric of the game. His best games for us this season were when we were playing against very elite forwards in our league like Moose Jaw or Prince George or the Portlands of the world. He definitely can rise to the occasion and he wants to play against those top guys and see if he can get under their skin a little bit.”

At 5-foot-11, 172 pounds (looks like he managed to keep the weight on), Marques is ranked 53rd among North American skaters by NHL Central Scouting in the agency’s final pre-draft report and earned an invite to the recent NHL Combine.

“It’s a dream come true,” Marques added. “Growing up, you see these events happening. You see all the special players and people that go to those events. Being face-to-face with teams and meeting the people on the staff was pretty cool.”

Marques may have caught a team’s attention the same way he did with the Hurricanes just three years ago.

He’ll be in attendance with his family when the NHL Draft hits the Sphere in Las Vegas, Nev. on June 28 and 29.