by Eldon MacDonald (edited by @ChrisRalphTHW)

Another “Year of the Q”

2014 was a rough year for NHL draft prospects from the QMJHL (Q) as only one prospect (Nikolaj Ehlers – Halifax) was taken in the first round. The roughness was further amplified as the 2013 Q draft class had been a generational year with six prospects taken in the first including budding super stars Nathan MacKinnon and Jonathan Drouin.

Q enthusiasts have no fear – the Year of the Q is back. Kyle Woodlief of USA Today captured the feeling of most scouts about the Q when he wrote, “Nearly every night we walked into a “Q” building during the first half of this season, we’ve come away thinking we just watched a pleasant surprise. In addition to guys like the Roys (Jeremy and Nicolas), Evgeni Svechnikov, and Daniel Sprong — who everybody knew about — the happy emergence of nice prospects like Thomas Chabot, Yakov Trenin, Anthony Beauvillier, Dmytro Timashov, and Simon Bourque from the ranks of the unknown to fill in a deep second tier has been a godsend.”

The Most Overlooked Guy in the Draft

One name that Kyle Woodlief did not mention in his quote above was Swiss forward Timo Meier. Kyle can be forgiven for this as I too failed to notice the impressive growth in Timo’s game this year. Until just recently, I thought of Timo as a decent second-rounder with size, a North-South game and the beneficiary of some of the best feeds in junior hockey from one Mr. Nikolaj Ehlers. Even a 4 goal game from Timo had yet to change my mind. I noticed that some of his goals were pretty high-end and some of his passes were superb but I didn’t really figure it all out it until I saw Timo without Nikolaj Ehlers for a couple of games before the U20’s.

He gave you everything – big guy type game (6’1, 209), North-South, corners, boards, to the net, vision, passing, shot, creativity, results – the works – made you feel like ordering a pizza; he was the primary cog for the Mooseheads. Timo has continued that dominance since Nikolaj’s return with six points in the two games back (1.72 points per game since November 1st). He also notched a PPG as a draft eligible prospect in this year’s World Juniors for Switzerland. I have since moved Timo up to 12th overall in THW’s War Room rankings.

I think that the real benefit that Timo received from playing with stars like Nikolaj Ehlers and Jonathan Drouin was that he found out what it takes to be a great player.

Prospect Sources – 2013, 2014 and 2015

I have listed below the sources for the prospects of the 2013, 2014 and 2015 drafts (2013 and 2014 are the actual drafts; 2015 via THW War Room rankings). In addition to the Q, 2015 looks to be a good year for Europe as well.

2015 Rd. QMJHL OHL WHL USA Europe Other CDN 1 5 6 7 7 5 0 2 8 5 5 4 8 0 3 4 6 3 3 14 0 4 9 6 0 8 7 0

2014 Rd. QMJHL OHL WHL USA Europe Other CDN 1 1 10 9 4 6 0 2 4 9 2 8 7 0 3 0 6 8 7 6 3 4 3 4 3 10 8 2 5 3 0 6 12 6 3 6 1 8 5 7 8 1 7 5 4 4 3 9 5

2013 Rd. QMJHL OHL WHL USA Europe Other CDN 1 6 8 8 1 7 0 2 9 5 5 7 5 0 3 4 8 4 6 7 1 4 5 6 2 10 4 0 5 2 1 4 14 7 2 6 3 5 5 9 5 3 7 2 4 4 5 11 4

2015 NHL Draft War Room: Top 36 Prospects from the Q

Round One – 5 Players

(Current ranking bolded, December rank in brackets; stats through January 10th, 2015)

11 (Dec-14 – 11) – Svechnikov, Evgeny, Cape Breton, LW, 6’3, 205 (31-15-30-45)

A sustained period of relatively poor results followed by an injury in the Subway Super Series but it appears that Evgeny Svechnikov is back – 16 points in 9 games since his return from injury. If he continues at that pace on a fairly consistent basis, he will be pushing very hard for a space in the top 10. 6’3 guys, who can skate, pass, shoot and finish are not easy to find.

http://t.co/NpWH0tZaAn

#20 Evgeny Svechnikov

Dangerous offensive threat with a heavy, accurate shot & smooth hands. Potential gamebreaker. — ISS Hockey (@ISShockey) December 23, 2014

13 (Dec-14 – 31) – Meier, Timo, Halifax, RW, 6,1, 209 (34-21-29-50)

Described above.

He hasn't scored a goal, but Timo Meier has 4 assists tonight for the Mooseheads. — John Moore (@rinkrant) January 10, 2015

16 (Dec-14 – 14) – Roy, Jérémy, Sherbrooke, D, 6’0, 182 (36-5-33-38)

Jérémy has high-end powerplay skills to go along with excellent movement of the puck out of the d-zone with either crisp, precision passes or by joining the rush himself. Only his modest size will likely keep him out of the top 10.

22 (Dec-14 – 20) – Sprong, Daniel, Charlottetown, RW, 6’0, 192 (42-22-24-46)

Many scouts are very high on this guy. He is a high-end talent with high compete and a high determination level – a Patrick Kane or Phil Kessel type talent. However, to get out that Kane-Kessel talent, Daniel needs to better utilize his teammates and to improve his mental game to see that all plays need not centre around him.

Charlottetown's Daniel Sprong comes from Amsterdam and is living the Canadian dream: http://t.co/sQZG6RDgfb — Ryan Kennedy (@THNRyanKennedy) December 5, 2013

25 (Dec-14 – 21) – Zboril, Jakub, Saint John, D, 6’2, 185 (33-8-14-22)

Good size, good skills – still learning but has the potential to develop into a top defensive defenseman with some offense.

Saint John dman Jakub Zboril is #TheRealDeal. 2 assists, 4 huge hits, 2nd Star tonight. 4G+10A, 14Pts on season. #OctagonHockey #EHSHockey — Allan Walsh (@walsha) November 22, 2014

Round 2 – 8 Players

34 (Dec-14 – 35) – Meloche, Nicolas, Baie-Comeau, D, 6’2, 200 (39-9-21-30)

Big guy, nice mobility, good understanding of defense for his age – is starting to improve on his power play duties. Had a down December but appears to be back on track. If he improves his power play game, he has first round potential.

41 (Dec-14 – 41) – Roy, Nicolas, Chicoutimi, C/RW, 6’4, 202 (38-10-18-28)

Yes, he is playing a lot better lately (14 points in his last 12 games) after a disastrous start to the season (14 points in 27 games). However, what are you getting – that first round talent that Nicolas displayed at the Ivan Hlinka tournament in the summer or that player who couldn’t do anything offensively for the first three months of the season or somewhere in between. As for me, I want to see more and on a consistent basis before I consider moving him back to the first round where I had him coming into the season.

42 (Dec-14 – 44) – Chabot, Thomas, Saint John, D, 6’2, 179 (39-7-18-25)

Poised, puck-moving defenseman with decent size – he seems to get better each time you see him which is why he keeps moving up in the rankings. Add a few pounds and some strength plus a little more physicality and you are starting to get a high-end defenseman.

44 (Dec-14 – 59) – Beauvillier, Anthony, Shawinigan, C, 5’10, 181 (41-29-25-54)

The fire inside is always burning; his wheels are always a turning. The Q’s Nick Merkley without as much of the physicality. All around offensive player; always determined to make a difference.

49 (Dec-14 – 49) – Chlapik, Filip, Charlottetown, C, 6,1, 183 (38-17-28-45)

Solid all-around centre, offensively and defensively. Good hockey sense. The question is how high is his offensive capability?

51 (Dec-14 – 54) – Carrier, Alexandre, Gatineau, D, 5’11, 168 (43-6-28-34)

Undersized but not undermanned. Went out west last summer to integrate Tyler Johnson’s training program for muscle strength into his regiment with positive results. Add vision, hockey sense and good stickwork and you start to see why his coach (Team Canada Coach, Benoit Groulx) is so high on this guy.

52 (Dec-14 – 69) – Gagné, Gabriel, Victoriaville, RW, 6’5, 183 (42-24-13-37)

Size you can’t buy at 6’5, a good finish, decent hands. Add a few pounds, improve the footspeed a little and the sky is the limit.

60 (Dec-14 – 61) – Yan, Dennis, Shawinigan, LW, 6’1, 188 (32-18-19-37)

Yes to the finish, yes to the skating, yes to the forecheck – needs to work on defense and consistency.

Round 3 – 4 Players

62 (Dec-14 – 55 – Trenin, Yakov, Gatineau, LW, 6’2, 179 (33-11-26-37)

Decent size and skill level – more of a passer than a shooter as his statistics indicate. Many have him second round. Slightly slow a-foot is his only notable shortcoming; he also needs to learn to shoot more but that will come.

75 (Dec-14 – 66) – Brisebois, Guillaume, Acadie-Bathurst, D, 6’2, 173 (39-3-16-19)

Guillaume is a player I loved at the Ivan Hlinka tournament last summer. His season, however, has not been quite as good as he plays on a not-so-great team and plays all the hard minutes. He is still a player with lots of potential and should start to realize more of it as he fills out his 6’2 frame.

79 (Dec-14 – 47) – Booth, Callum, Québec, G, 6’3, 196 (29-2-3.09-.899)

Top goalie prospect going through a bit of a rough stretch (.843 to date in Jan-15). Will be in tough to get in many games for the rest of the year with Zachary Fucale ready to shoulder the load in Québec.

83 (Dec-14 – 85) – Marsh, Adam, Saint John, LW, 6’0, 158 (39-18-14-32)

Has the high-end finish ability with a bit of agitation and meanness. A few extra pounds and a little additional quickness would help improve his game along with his prospects of going second round.

Round 4 – 9 Players

Honourable Mentions

(10 Players Likely to be Drafted in the Later Rounds)

A few of these prospects are likely to move up before the end of the year. I am particularly interested in seeing how Jason Bell reacts after his trade from Cape Breton to Saint John. Jason has the size and skating ability of many of those ranked higher – just needs to improve his defensive decision making.