NHL Draft: QMJHL Defense Edition

Here’s a list of QMJHL defenseman eligible for the 2016 NHL draft.

Player	PTS/G	DOB	H	S
Frédéric Allard (D)	0.922	12/27/1997	6’1	R
Samuel Girard (D)	1.104	5/12/1998	5’10	L
Luke Green (D)	0.574	1/12/1998	6’1	R
Gabriel Bilodeau (D)	0.305	6/4/1998	6’1	R
Jacob Neveu (D)	0.271	1/12/1998	6’2	R
Gabriel Sylvestre (D)	0.197	1/22/1998	6’2	R
Oliver Felixson (D)	0.13	3/27/1998	6’5	L
Charles-Édouard D’Astous (D)	0.302	4/21/1998	6’1	L
Olivier Galipeau (D)	0.661	5/22/1997	6’1	L
Artyom Maltsev (D)	0.213	3/27/1998	6’2	R
Elijah Francis (D)	0.4	3/5/1998	5’11	L
Thomas Grégoire (D)	0.306	7/15/1998	5’11	L

 

Luke Green (D) (20-50)

• NHL Central Scouting: Via Hockey’s Future – “highly effective skating, puck moving defenseman. He’s a strong and mobile skater who is capable to lead a rush and who excels at jumping into the attack. He advances the puck effectively with first pass plays and distributes puck well on the power play. He shoots with authority and can find the shooting lanes from point.”
• TSN: Dynamic skating defenceman who will push the pace and jump into the attack. Good awareness and makes good plays from the defensive zone and in the offensive zone and plays with confidence
• Before this season Green was a projected top 15 pick. The main concern with Green is that for an offensive defenseman he didn’t progress offensively, .6 Pts/G last year versus .57 Pts/G this season. It should be noted that St John’s had two 1^st round picks (Zboril & Chabot) on the Sea Dog’s D and didn’t get as much power play time. For reference, Girard scored 70% and Allard scored 78% of their goals with the man advantage. Whereas, Green scored 40% of his goals on the PP. Green has stated that he was focusing on his defensive game this past year. People mention his elite skating ability (compared to Kris Letang) and a good passer but needs to work on his defensive game.

Frédéric Allard (D) (20 – 50)

• Hockey Now: Very good puck moving defenceman flying under the radar in the Q. Really good four-way movement skills and likes to skate the puck out of his zone whenever the opportunity is there. Good offensive instincts for a defenceman who is PP quarterback and generates offence from anywhere on the ice. Will get his shot on net through traffic and is not afraid to jump into the play. His defensive game needs work especially away from the puck and when he is working on sealing the boards.

Samuel Girard (D) (20-50)

• The Draft Analyst: He has very good first-step quickness and excellent top-end speed. He has above-average balance for a defenseman listed at 5’10, owning a good, strong stride. His lateral movement is excellent, using a strong lower body to cover ground in a hurry if a play expands the ice on the periphery. Girard’s bread and butter, however, is playmaking. He’s an exceptional puck distributor with a soft set of hands, using them to corral hard or inaccurate passes. He makes crisp passes on the tape and with authority — forehand or back – and leads the man with consistency. Patient and aware, Girard does not own a good shot, and will acquiesce to the pass nine times out of 10. Moreover, he is far from physical, but his positioning is developing and his reads are excellent. A real leader who will instantly improve a team’s breakout and power play capability.

Jacob Neveu (D)  (150-200)

• Rouyn-Noranda Huskies finished first this season in the Q with 113 points in 68 games. Neveu is behind Jeremy Lauzon (Bruins 2nd Round Pick) & Phillippe Myers (Signed an entry level deal with Flyers – helluva find!) on the Rouyn-Noranda depth chart.   Neveu is a big defenseman and was invited to Team Canada’s U18 camp this past summer. Not much info on him. Kris Baker ‏@SabresProspects Feb 17 – The Q is not my fave league for D, but like what I see from Jacob Neveu. Shutdown mindset, good leverage on the walls, feet coming around.

Oliver Felixson (150-200)

• Felixson is a huge defender (6’5) and plays on a stacked Sea Dogs defense; Chabot, Zboril, Luke Green & overager Matt Murphy. He is not a smooth skater, doesn’t bring much offense and was likely in a sheltered role this past season. Felixson made the jump from Junior B in Finland to QMJHL, which is a big leap.       From reading various scouting reports it mentions that Felixson is excellent defensively and seems similar to Hal Gill.
• Over The Boards: 6’5 defenseman Oliver Felixson (1998) has been solid at both ends of the ice. He brings some offense, skates well for his size and has been improving his defensive game. He’s also a disciplined player with only four minor penalties on the season, despite having a lot of ice-time. – Dec, 14, 2014

Gabriel Sylvestre (D) (150-200)

• Last Word On Sports: He has good size at 6’2″ and plays an excellent defensive game, using that size, as well as good mobility, to play a physical game and knock his man off the puck.  He shows very good positioning and instincts.  The offensive game is a work in progress though.  Sylvestre has an excellent slap shot, but could use some work on having more poise with the puck and waiting for the right pass, instead of rushing things.

Olivier Galipeau (150-200)

• Galipeau was passed over in last year’s draft, likely due to the offense not coming around, averaged .34 pts/G. This year he was the top scoring defenseman on a solid Val-d’Ore team and doubled his PPG average (.66).
• BlueSeatBlogs: With all of that said the physical defenseman kept growing defensively giving me some hope that he can grow a bit offensively as well. He is an average skater but that is being improved as well. Galipeau will be getting a heightened role on the Val-d’Or Foreurs with his coach even saying that he is the future captain of that team.

Artyom Maltsev (150-200)

• The 6’2 Russian d-man is likely a shutdown defender. The Draft Analyst: Maltsev has good size and strength, and can play a physical, shut-down game.

Gabriel Bilodeau (D) (150-200)

• Bilodeau is a 6’1 Right-Hand Shot defensive d-man with a late birthday. Doesn’t bring much offense.

Here is a list of defensemen drafted out of the QMJHL between 2005 and 2012.

Pick	Player	Pts/G	DOB	H
13	Brandon Gormley	0.74	Feb. 18	6’2
14	Dmitri Kulikov	1.09	Oct. 29	6’1
17	Nathan Beaulieu	0.69	Dec. 5	6’2
30	Simon Despres	0.48	Jul. 7	6’4
31	T.J. Brennan	0.6	Apr. 3	6’1
35	Marc-Edouard Vlasic	0.43	Mar. 30	6’1
48	Xavier Ouellet	0.64	Jul. 29	6’1
54	Eric Gelinas	0.58	May, 8	6’4
55	Marco Scandella	0.21	Feb. 23	6’1
62	Kristopher Letang	0.46	Apri. 24	6′
67	Marc-Andre Bourdon	0.86	Sept. 17	6′
87	Marc-Andre Gragnani	0.57	Mar. 11	6’3
91	Oskars Bartulis	0.39	Jan. 21	6’2
94	David Savard	0.65	Oct. 22	6’2
152	Mark Barberio	0.66	Mar. 23	6’1
160	Andrew MacDonald	0.68	Sept. 7	6’1
186	Jason Demers	0.95	Jun. 9	6’1

 

Notes:

•  MacDonald & Demers were both two year overage players.
• Outside of Scandella all the defensemen were .39+ Pts/G.  If you are drafting a player below that threshold they should be elite in one area.  Using this as a guideline there are only three first year eligible d-men that are sure shots to be drafted; Green, Girard & Allard
• All other defenders should be late round picks.
• Of the late round options, in my opinion, Felixson has the highest upside.

 

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