Perhaps more than in past years, the QMJHL title seems up for grabs — with the bulk of the power being in the Eastern Conference.
In the Eastern Division, the Chicoutimi Saguenéens appear favoured over the Rimouski Océanic in what promises to be an exciting race. Baie-Comeau and Quebec, both with some capable offensive veterans, are expected to rebuild.
Chicoutimi will ice an electrifying offence with the return of 30 goal scorers Vladislav Kotkov and Justin Ducharme, and newly acquired Rafaël Harvey-Pinard (a Montreal draft pick) who last year scored 40 as he captained Rouyn-Noranda to the Memorial Cup. The Sags are ranked second in the CHL's pre-season top ten rankings. Helping their vets up front are two 2018 first rounders, Théo Rochette, and Hendrix Lapierre, the latter who was picked first overall and could push to be chosen second overall in June's NHL Draft.
Lapierre will almost certainly be drafted behind Rimouski phenom Alexis Lafrenière come June. The last Océanic player to be tabbed at No. 1 was Sidney Crosby, whose No. 87 will be retired at Rimouski's home opener to kickstart the club's 25th season celebration. Lafrenière, a 100 point producer in 2018-19, should be able to carry the load alongside Flames prospect Dmitry Zavgorodniy. This club has no issues in net with St. Louis draftee/Whycocomagh native Colten Ellis.
Goaltending is also a strength all throughout the Maritimes with three NHL draftees between the pipes: Olivier Rodrigue (Moncton/Edmonton), Alexis Gravel (Halifax/Chicago), and Kevin Mandolese (Cape Breton/Ottawa), all three playing for teams who could be considered division favourites. Another story to watch in the Maritimes are the new coaches in Nova Scotia, as Jake Grimes and J.J. Daigneault are behind the benches in Cape Breton and Halifax, respectively.
Halifax (sixth in the CHL top 10) brings back some big names up front- 30 goal men Benoit-Olivier Groulx (Anaheim) and Raphaël Lavoie (Edmonton). Defenseman Jared McIssac (Detroit) is still with Halifax but a shoulder injury could prevent him from playing in his second world juniors. Justin Barron will pick up some of the slack as he is pegged as a first round pick.
Across the causeway, the Eagles (no longer Screaming) will certainly be scoring with Egor Sokolov's 30 goals returning. Mathias Laferrière (St. Louis) produced at more than a point-a-game clip last season, earning an invite to Team Canada's summer camp. Depth is certainly a strength with four other forwards (Shaun Miller, Shawn Boudrias, Brooklyn Kalmikov, Derek Gentile) who all notched at least 15 red lights.
Moncton (a top 10 honourable mention) looks to ice an impressive roster despite the unexpected departures to the pro ranks of 20-year-olds Jonathan Aspirot and Jeremy McKenna, and uncertainly if stud Swedish blue-liner Axel Andersson will call the "Q" home. Jakob Pelletier is captaining the Cats after an 89-point campaign and being chosen in round one by Calgary, and on the back end Jordan Spence (Los Angeles) figures to be one of the best two way defenders in the league.
Lapierre will almost certainly be drafted behind Rimouski phenom Alexis Lafrenière come June. The last Océanic player to be tabbed at No. 1 was Sidney Crosby, whose No. 87 will be retired at Rimouski's home opener to kickstart the club's 25th season celebration.
Charlottetown will get strong netminding from overage Matt Welsh, production from Nikita Alexandrov (St. Louis) while on the blue-line sophomore Lukas Cormier is a darkhorse to be a first round NHL pick. In Saint John, 2019 top pick Joshua Roy joins a group that includes six of the top 32 choices from the 2018 draft. Bathurst has nowhere to go but up from an eight win season but still has plenty of work to do.
Over in the Western Conference, the Sherbrooke Phoenix of the Central Division are a bonafide contender, ninth in the CHL rankings. Pittsburgh first rounder Samuel Poulin leads a forward core that brings back seven 15 goal scorers. In net Samuel Hlavaj, who played for Slovakia at the WJC, will become the first import QMJHL crease cop since Marvin Cüpper in 2014-15. Victoriaville and Shawinigan, each armed with a strong pair of imports, should battle for second in the Central, while Drummondville begins a heavy rebuild.
The West Division doesn't appear to have a title winner in its group but the Abitibi rivalry will be in full swing. Val-d'Or hopes its 2001 born class including defenceman Maxence Guenette comes of age, and Rouyn-Noranda brings back some pieces from their championship club including 39 goal scorer Alex Beaucage. As Blainville-Boisbriand and Gatineau try to avoid the basement, the big question in the West is whether 2018 first rounder Noah Dobson will be returned to the Huskies from the New York Islanders.
Rouyn-Noranda and Blainville-Boisbriand kicked off the Q calendar on Thursday while the other 16 teams began the campaign on Friday.
Patrick McNeil is the play-by-play announcer with the Cape Breton Screaming Eagles. Email him at [email protected], or Twitter: cbse_pbp.
