Coming in at #18 on the prospect countdown is yet another member of this past sumker's 2019 draft class for the Avalanche, and #18 is Alex Beaucage. Beaucage was the Avs second third round pick of the draft, as he was taken 78th overall. Taken 15 spots after Matthew Stienburg, he will come in ranking ahead of him on this list. Beaucage has virtually everything you are looking for when you are talking about prospects in the top 100 you are likely looking at in the third round. Obviously everyone available in the third round has their blemishes but I really like where this kid's game is at.





Just like Stienburg and Mutala, Beaucage has prototypical size and frame to continue to play at the pro level. Measuring in at 6'2" 192lbs he has the frame to get even a little bigger. Which is no surprise at all when you keep in mind that this kid just turned 18 this past July. In somewhat of a similar situation as Sasha Mutala, Beaucage managed to separate himself from the field with his polished and refined skills, mainly his natural scoring ability. This combined with just overall improvement and maturity developing during his second season in the QMJHL. And to be clear when I say maturity I don't mean it regarding off the ice or in any negative connotation like that. I am strictly referring to how you handle yourself over the course of the season, finding out how to properly prepare and just overall make adjustments. It's a maturity process that every player at every level has to go through at some point. And it was the biggest thing I saw myself when watching Alex Beaucage from year 1 to year 2. Of course it didn't hurt that physically he was growing into his body, learning how to use, growing into his strides etc. The physical maturity was huge for his game as well, but to his credit he took advantage of it and ran with it, and that is a lot more than many prospects can say.





Beaucage followed up his freshman campaign with the Rouyn-Noranda Huskies, with a sophomore season in which he tripled his goal total from the previous season and more than doubled his point total. With 39 goals and 79 points, Beaucage elevated himself to become a premier name in the QMJHL. Certainly worth a top 100 pick, may had Beaucage as a late second round pick. Not bad value for a guy the Avs were able to get in the mid third round. When I watch this kid play though, the first thing that jumps out to me is the accuracy of his snapshot. He repeatedly abused goalies in the Q with it. Just absolute perfect placement shot after shot. It's a shot that certainly has big league potential. He does a great job protecting his stick and hiding his shot as well. That is a trait that is particularly hard for younger prospects to develop when they already have a great shot. Often times they rely way too much on their shot alone. Beaucage does a great job positioning himself for a shot that makes it difficult for defenseman to play and goalies to read. That is a huge part of the maturity process to his game that I mentioned earlier.





Another area of his game where he really excelled was his production on the power play. Of course he saw significantly more power play time in his second season as a 17 year old but his ability to read the defense and almost Quarterback the power play from the wall was perhaps my favorite thing to watch. He demonstrated a great ability to look off defenders like an actual Quarterback in the NFL. His ability to do that not only opened passing lanes and lanes for his teammates on the power play, but you would also see so many times where it opened up lanes for himself. He has such high hockey IQ combined with a lethal shot that when he is able to open these shooting lanes for himself he is able to take such quick advantage of it and make goalies pay.





Beaucage put the cherry on top to a very impressive season by finishing it with an equally impressive individual playoff run. He posted 5 goals and 16 points over the course 16 games. Any time you see an underage player play at a point per game rate in the playoffs I will always be impressed. It really showed that he was up for the task as well and was not worn down or beaten up. He was able to carry over his exceptional play deep into the playoffs, another reason scouts loved this kid.





To be 100% honest, Beaucage was one of those players in which I really did not watch a ton of tape on in the process leading up into the draft, however after the Avs made the selection it was hard for me not to like any of their picks outside the first round more. I'm not sure how the Avs took a player like Stienburg ahead of him, or how he even managed to be there at 78th overall, but this kid certainly had second round potential. Another low risk, great value pick for this front office and scouting department. Looking forward for the next two seasons for Beaucage, I would imagine he stays in the Q the next two years, it's hard to imagine a third round pick building off of a 40 goal and 79 point season. Yet he was just 17 when he posted those numbers. And before anyone else says it, yes I know the Q is a very offensive minded and friendly league, but 17 year olds just don't do that regularly. To put it in perspective, Raphael Lavoie (who many had as a first round pick and top 20 pick even) posted 32 goals and 73 points as an 18 year old. Now yes he did absolutely dominate the postseason and box scores and stats are fare from everything, it just gives you a little insight on how impressive that really is.





It's hard to say expectations should be 50 goals and 100 points this year and I am certainly not going to say that because it is nuts, it is not quite out of the realm of possibilities. For Beaucage at this point I'm not concerned about his production so I'm not really going to use that as a huge priority when looking at his development. As long as he can stay at least a point per game that's. I'd imagine him netting 45 goals and 85-90 points. What I really want to see though is how he can take control of games, see him continue to man the PP but also see how he his game develops in his own end. He showed his ability to forecheck last season and thats some thing I want to see continue to develop. The coaches at the next level will be looking or players that can play a 200 foot game and players that they can trust. If Beaucage can do that, this kid could be a dangerous prospect. I look forward to watching him dominate as well as play in Loveland with the Eagles in a couple of years.