2016-17 QMJHL Preview: The West Division

Gatineau-Olympiques;-QMJHL

Yakov Trenin, left. (Getty Images)

GATINEAU OLYMPIQUES
For the first time in 13 years, Benoit Groulx won’t be standing behind the Gatineau bench. The illustrious coach moved to the pro ranks as head coach of Tampa Bay Lighting AHL affiliate Syracuse Crunch. Head coach Mario Duhamel and GM Marcel Patenaude take over the roles previously held by Groulx.

Prediction
First in the West Division. With a veteran squad, this could be Gatineau’s last shot at a deep playoff run for quite some time.

Forwards
Two Russians — Vitatalii Abramov and Yakov Trenin — power the offence. As a rookie last year, Abramov lit up the league with 38 goals and 93 points. Leading both categories, Abramov took home rookie of the year honours and went 65th overall to the Columbus Blue Jackets. The five-foot-nine, 170-pound winger may be small, but he’s nearly impossible to contain. He’s a candidate to hit the century mark in points this season.

Nashville Predators prospect Yakov Trenin took a slight dip in his point totals — 67 points in his rookie year compared to 61 last year — but saw an increase in goals. He was knocked out of the playoffs in the first round, a major blow to Gatineau’s playoff hopes.

Alex Dostie, a fourth-round pick by the Anaheim Ducks in June, gives the Olympiques yet another weapon in a dangerous attack. With only three rookies in the forward group, this veteran group will be hard to play against.

Defence
Last season, the Olympiques allowed the fewest goals in the league with 173 against. At the trade deadline, the already stingy team picked up Nicolas Meloche. The Colorado Avalanche prospect is downright nasty to play against and can put up points as well.

The group takes a hit with 19-year-old Alexandre Carrier jumping to the Milwaukee Admirals, affiliate of the Nashville Predators.

Goalies
While Abramov was doing damage up front, Mathieu Bellemare was holding down the fort at the other end of the rink. He won the Raymond Lagacé Trophy as defensive rookie of the year with a 2.43 GAA, 0.901 save percentage and four shutouts. It’s sort of a 1a, 1b situation in Gatineau with Mark Grametbauer also coming off a spectacular rookie season. He posted a 2.80 GAA and 0.912 save percentage in 15 games after coming over from Blainville-Boisbriand in a trade. Grametbauer received an invite from the Tampa Bay Lightning but could be a trade candidate if Gatineau needs to plug a hole on offence or defence.

ROUYN-NORANDA HUSKIES
The defending President Cup champs should still be competitive this season despite the loss of Francis Perron, Julien Nantel, A.J. Greer, Timo Meier, Nikolas Brouillard and Chase Marchand. It’s a testament to how deep last year’s championship roster was. The CHL’s top-10 pre-season rankings placed Rouyn-Noranda at nine.

Prediction
Second in the West. While not likely, dreams of back-to-back championships could turn to reality.

Forwards
Losing the group of forwards listed above is obviously a big blow, but the team still has Martins Dzierkals (Toronto Maple Leafs), Gabriel Fontaine (New York Rangers) and Jean-Christophe Beaudin (Colorado Avalanche) up front. Both Beaudin and Dzierkals averaged more than a point per game.

Antoine Waked returns as a 20-year-old and the team still has room to add another over-ager to the roster. First-rounder Evan MacKinnon made the roster as a rookie but could find it tough in search of premium minutes with so many players returning from last year. He could develop into an important weapon down the road.

Defence
The reason Rouyn-Noranda is still a good bet to be a contender this year lies behind the blue line. Jérémy Lauzon (Boston Bruins) and Philippe Myers (Philadelphia Flyers) are both back this season. Lauzon ran into injury troubles last season, including a scary incident in the playoffs where he was cut on the neck by a skate blade. He posted 50 points in 46 games and is a tough defender on both sides of the puck. He’ll miss time this season at Boston Bruins training camp where he could get a long look and there’s a solid chance he’ll make Canada’s world junior team.

Flyers prospect Myers enjoyed a breakout season, going from eight points in his sophomore season to 45. At six-foot-five, 202 pounds, he’s a physical threat with speed and skill, AKA, your worst nightmare when playing against him. With so many stars on the Huskies last year, Myers flew under the radar. He’s also a solid bet for the Canadian world junior team.

Goalies
Journeyman Chase Marchand came out of nowhere last season and stole the show between the pipes for the Huskies. The over-ager is gone and now Samuel Harvey takes over. In a backup role last year, Harvey won 25 games to go along with a 2.74 GAA and 0.889 save percentage. Goaltending remains a position of strength for the defending champs.

BLAINVILLE-BOISBRIAND ARMADA
A forty-point gap in the standings meant nothing in the playoffs as the Armada pulled off a historic upset of the Val-d’Or Foreurs. A sweep at the hands of Rouyn-Noranda put the Cinderella run to an end, but there’s reason to be optimistic this season. The team acquired Jérémy Roy, one of the league’s most dangerous defencemen, in June. The offence got a boost with Alexandre Alain joining the team from Gatineau. Both deals were announced in April but couldn’t be made official until June.

Prediction
Third in the West Division. Assuming Samuel Montembeault returns in net, the Armada should build off last season’s surprising finish. If he goes pro, a third-place prediction may be generous.

Forwards
Goals were hard to come by for the Armada last season. The team finished in 13th place, but second-to-last in goals with 147. The only player with more than 15 goals, Slovak Kristian Pospisil, won’t be back on the team as a 20-year-old. The newly acquired Alain won’t replace Pospisil’s offence, but he adds defensive responsibility to the top six.

Joël Teasdale is the player to watching on the Armada. The two-way forward posted 27 points in his rookie season. It’s his NHL draft year and he could be a top-60 pick if continues to develop and add consistency to his game.

Defence
An injury-filled season kept Jérémy Roy’s point totals in check as he finished with 34 in 45 games. The 31st overall pick of the 2015 draft by the San Jose Sharks, Roy gives the power play a big boost this season.

Keep an eye on the progress or the six-foot, 191-pound Antoine Crête-Belzile as he looks to prove himself to scouts in his NHL draft year.

Goalies
The huge upset of Val-d’Or wouldn’t have happened without Florida Panther prospect Samuel Montembeault in net. How the team does this season will largely be dependent on if the 20-year-old returns to junior. He signed a contract with the Panthers in May and could be sent to the Springfield Thunderbirds in the AHL. While he’s at camp, the rookie duo of Francis Leclerc and Jacob Stewart will handle crease duties.

VAL-D’OR FOREURS
Everything looked so good for the Foreurs last season. The team finished in fourth place, but had the second-most points in the standings since division leaders get the top three seeds. With 293 goals, Val-d’Or was lethal up front. But then Blainville-Boisbriand Armada knocked the team off in the first round in a behemoth-sized upset. Like the Huskies, Val-d’Or lost many of its best players in the off-season. Unlike the division rivals, however, what remains isn’t that strong.

Prediction
Fourth in the West Division. Julien Gauthier is one of the hardest players to contain in the league, but he’ll get more defensive attention this season.

Forwards
The trio of Nicolas Aubé-Kubul, Anthony Richard and Anthony Beauregard all had over 80 points, but none of them are back this season. They still have Julien Gauthier, the 21st overall pick by the Carolina Hurricanes in June. The runaway freight train was on pace to hit 50 goals last season, but slowed down late in the year and finished with 41. The six-foot-four, 225-pound winger will get a look with the Hurricanes, but he should be back and is a strong candidate to win the league scoring title this season.

Val-d’Or brought in Detroit Red Wings prospect Adam Marsh from the Saint John Sea Dogs. The American scored 24 and 23 goals in his first two seasons and should help ease the loss of firepower up front.

Defence
Top rearguard David Henley will miss the first eight games of the season with a suspension after a kneeing incident in the pre-season. He’s not much of a threat points wise, but plays with an edge and has cracked 100 PIM the past two seasons.

Strong defensively, this group lacks firepower. Olivier Galipeau had 37 points last year and is most likely to lead the team in defensive scoring.

Goalies
Dating back to Val-d’Or’s President Cup winning season, goaltending has been an area of strength for the franchise. Etienne Montpetit stole the starting job in his rookie season two years ago and was the unquestioned starter again last year. He’ll be pushed by Dereck Baribeau, a six-foot-five, 193-pound tower the team took with the fifth overall pick in 2015. In his rookie year, Baribeau won 10 games and posted a respectable 3.44 GAA and 0.879 save percentage.

SHERBROOKE PHOENIX
On paper, the Phoenix looked like a President Cup contender this time last year. What actually happened proved they were anything but. The team fired its coach and general manager in December, but Sherbrooke wasn’t able to turn the corner in the second half. The team finished in 15th place and there’s no reason to believe they’ll do much better this year.

Prediction
Fifth in the West Division. The most recent expansion team in the QMJHL hasn’t figured it out yet.

Forwards
Twenty-year-old Julien Pelletier, formerly a prospect in the Columbus Blue Jackets system, anchors the offence. He had 27 goals in a bounce-back season but failed to land a contract with the Blue Jackets. This season, he’ll be motivated to earn a shot in the pros after his junior career wraps up. His leadership will be important for a young group.

Rookie Anderson MacDonald is one to watch this season. The 10th overall pick in the draft, the six-foot-two, 203-pound winger led the team in pre-season with 10 points in 10 games. Import Yaroslave Alexeyev is small, but could be a wildcard for the Phoenix. He was a point-per-game player at the Ivan Hlinka tournament for Russia.

Defence
Over-agers Julien Bahl and Carl Neill (Vancouver Canucks) bring stability to the blue line. Yann-Félix Lapointe made the team as an 11th-round pick. He beat out Matt Sartoris, a six-foot-seven, former first-round pick of Gatineau who just hasn’t been able to stick in the QMJHL.

Goalies
It’s hard to write off Sherbrooke completely since they have Evan Fitzpatrick in net. Selected first overall in the 2014 QMJHL draft, the six-foot-three, 206-pound goalie should be a minute-muncher this season. The St. Louis Blues picked Fitzpatrick 59th overall in June.

DRUMMONDVILLE VOLTIGUERS
After a white-hot start and a brief visit to the CHL Top 10 ranking, the Drummondville Voltiguers regressed and looked more like the team that finished in last place the previous season. This season marks a fresh start for the team after bringing in Dominique Ducharme in the dual role of coach and GM. He has a Memorial Cup on his resume and is Team Canada’s world junior coach this winter.

Prediction
Sixth in the West Division. It’ll take time for Ducharme to turn this franchise around.

Forwards
Michael Carcone went from training camp invitee in 2014 to the team’s leading scorer with 89 points in the 2015-16 season. His 47 goals were one off of the league-best 48 from Chicoutimi’s Nic Roy. He parlayed that success into a contract with the Vancouver Canucks as an undrafted free agent. It’s unclear if the 20-year-old will be back in Drummondville or play in the AHL.

Joey Ratelle is one 20-year-old who’s looking to return to form after an injury-plagued season limited him to 27 games last year. The previous season, he had 33 goals and 108 PIM. His soft hands and hardened fists are important for this transitioning team.

Alex Barré-Boulet also had a breakout second season with 89 points and will become even more vital if Carcone is gone for good. Russian import Pavel Koltygin (ninth overall, 2016 CHL import draft) is listed on NHL Central Scoutings futures list as a player to watch.

Defence
Frédéric Aubé and Benjamin Gagné are the only defencemen on the roster who’ve played more than half a season in the QMJHL. Nicolas Beaudin appeared in 26 games and the rest are rookies. Xavier Bernard, a six-foot-three, 188-pound defender selected 12th overall in June, has the most upside in this young group.

Goalies
It appears Ducharme’s plan for rebuilding starts from the net out. With the third pick of the QMJHL entry draft, the team picked the highly touted Olivier Rodrigue. In AAA, the keeper posted a 2.29 GAA and 0.923 save percentage. He’ll share the crease with Anthony Dumont-Bouchard and Frédéric Foulem, but Rodrigue is clearly the team’s starter down the road.

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