Well, it’s that time of the year again.
The CHL’s finest draft-eligible prospects have gathered in Kelowna, B.C. to play in tonight’s Home Hardware Top Prospects Game. The game can be seen on Rogers Sportsnet beginning at 10 p.m. EST (11 p.m. Atlantic time.)
For all the invited prospects, it’s a chance for them to get noticed by scouts in the hopes of receiving an invitation to Consol Energy Center in Pittsburgh for the 2012 NHL Entry Draft.
With that in mind, let’s take a look at the participants from the QMJHL. A total of nine QMJHL prospects will be in Kelowna, with four on Team Cherry coached by Mark Recchi, and the remaining five will play for Team Orr, led by Pat Quinn.
Team Cherry
Dillon Fournier, D, Rouyn-Noranda Huskies (9-20-29, 39 GP)
Even though Rouyn-Noranda is battling with P.E.I. to stay out of the QMJHL basement for the second consecutive year, Dillon Fournier has been a shining light on defence for the Huskies.
As the first pick in the Lewiston MAINEiacs Dispersal Draft in June and the sole QMJHL defender in the Top Prospects Game, the Montréal product is enjoying a breakout season, having already doubled his offensive output in just over half the number of games.
Fournier’s increased production projects similarly to what Sea Dogs defender and Canadiens first-round pick Nathan Beaulieu experienced in 2009-10, his 17-year-old season.
Central Scouting currently has Fournier listed 138th among North American skaters, but a solid showing in Kelowna could increase the attention he gets at the Entry Draft.
Martin Frk, RW, Halifax Mooseheads (8-6-14, 16 GP)
Trailing only Mikhail Grigorenko, Martin Frk is the highest-ranked QMJHL prospect playing in Kelowna tonight.
Currently ranked 25th among North American skaters by Central Scouting, the Czech forward’s draft season was derailed in the preseason by a concussion. He didn’t make his regular season debut until Dec. 9 against P.E.I., but he’s turned it around after a slow start.
Frk may have missed an opportunity to boost his stock by opting out of playing for the Czech Republic at the World Junior Hockey Championships, but he comes into Kelowna with a hot hand, having scored 11 points during his current six-game point streak.
A strong performance from Frk in the Top Prospects Game would do wonders to elevate him toward the place where scouts thought he should be ranked prior to getting injured.
Andrew Ryan, LW, Halifax Mooseheads (5-4-9, 25 GP)
Much like his teammate Frk, Andrew Ryan has also had to battle back from a pre-season injury to regain his form.
A broken ankle at the end of August cost him the first two months of the regular season, but he’ll have plenty of opportunities to impress scouts in Kelowna as he attempts to make up for lost time.
Ryan ranks 64th among North American skaters going into the game, and he’s scored just one point since the start of 2012. However, look for the St. John’s, N.L. native to come out with something to prove tonight as he looks to jump onto the radar of all scouts in attendance.
Brandon Whitney, G, Victoriaville Tigres (20-3-0-1, 2.95 GAA)
If possible, the Kentville, N.S. native has played bigger than his 6-5 stature for Victoriaville this season, which has him ranked third among all North American goaltenders in the most recent Central Scouting rankings.
He’s been a key component in Victoriaville’s efforts this season, having only lost three games while keeping his team within striking distance of Québec and Shawinigan in the TELUS East Division race.
His 20 victories are good enough to tie with Halifax’s Zachary Fucale for tops among rookie goaltenders (tied for fourth in the QMJHL), and he leads all rookie goaltenders with a 2.95 goals-against average (tied for eighth overall.)
With Central Scouting’s top-ranked North American goaltender Malcolm Subban out of the game with a groin injury, this may be Whitney’s shot to step up and put pressure on not only Subban, but also fellow Team Cherry goaltender Matt Murray, who ranks second among North American netminders.
A great performance tonight could strengthen Whitney’s argument for being the best goaltender available at the 2012 NHL Entry Draft.
Team Orr
Francis Beauvillier, C, Rimouski Oceanic (17-7-24, 51 GP)
With teammates Jérôme Gauthier-Leduc and Alex Belzile commanding attention in Rimouski, St-Hyacinthe, Que. native Francis Beauvillier has quietly put together a solid season to date for the Oceanic.
Picked up by Rimouski in the Lewiston dispersal draft, Beauvillier ranks fourth on the team in goals (17) and sixth in points (24) through 51 games to help the Oceanic stay in the hunt for home-ice advantage in the first round of the QMJHL playoffs. His goal totals also eclipse his total from last season with the MAINEiacs, where he scored 11 times in 57 games.
Beauvillier ranks 62nd among North American skaters in the Central Scouting mid-season rankings, so this game is important if he wants to elevate his standing in the eyes of scouts.
Raphaël Bussières, LW, Baie-Comeau Drakkar (16-22-38, 43 GP)
A former first-round selection of the Moncton Wildcats in the 2009 QMJHL Draft, Raphaël Bussières has steadily continued to develop as a player after being traded to Baie-Comeau.
His point production has gone up in each of his three QMJHL seasons, and he’s averaging nearly a point per game in 2011-12. He sits tied for third on the Drakkar in goals (16) and tied for fourth in points (38).
Bussières currently sits just outside the top 50 among North American skaters in the Central Scouting rankings (57th), but a strong showing tonight in Kelowna could put him back into the top 50, and it may well put him on the minds of more NHL scouts as the Entry Draft draws closer.
Mikhail Grigorenko, RW, Québec Remparts (28-36-64, 41 GP)
With Sarnia’s Nail Yakupov out of the Top Prospects Game due to injury, the door may well be open for fellow Russian Mikhail Grigorenko to shine and further fuel debate over whose name should be called first in Pittsburgh this June.
An assistant captain for Team Orr, Grigorenko is ranked as the top prospect in the ISS mid-term rankings and second among North American skaters by Central Scouting. Grigorenko has scored in bunches since coming over to North America, producing at a rate of 1.56 points per game. The numbers could have been higher if he hadn’t played for Russia at the World Junior Hockey Championships over Christmas.
The scary part? He doesn’t turn 18 until the middle of May.
Grigorenko is a big reason why the Remparts are in the hunt in the TELUS East Division, and with a good showing in the Top Prospects Game, he may well stake his claim to the first overall pick in the 2012 NHL Entry Draft.
Tomas Hyka, RW, Gatineau Olympiques (17-30-47, 40 GP)
If it weren’t for the NHL’s Collective Bargaining Agreement, Czech forward Tomas Hyka may have been in the Philadelphia Flyers system instead of this year’s Top Prospects Game.
The Gatineau Olympiques instead became the beneficiaries, selecting Hyka with the eighth selection in the CHL Import Draft this past summer.
Hyka must have taken some advice from Flyers star and Gatineau alumnus Claude Giroux during his time in Philadelphia’s camp, because he’s adjusted to the North American game very well. He’s scored over a point per game with the Olympiques this season compared to his 2010-11 season with his hometown under-20 team, BK Mlada Boleslav, where he tallied 31 points in 38 games.
Hyka finds himself ranked 65th among North American skaters according to Central Scouting, but if he can show flashes of the confidence he displayed in his lone exhibition game as a Flyer, or the brilliance he displays in Gatineau offensively and killing penalties, Hyka surely won’t be passed over in this year’s draft as he was last year.
François Tremblay, G, Val D’Or Foreurs (14-22-0-3, 3.78 GAA)
François Tremblay has been a workhorse for Val D’Or this season, ranking fourth among all Q goaltenders in minutes played (2,253) and saves (1,054).
In fact, his workload may well skew his other statistics toward the bottom end of the spectrum, as he doesn’t rank particularly high in save percentage (18th, .881) or goals-against average (20th, 3.78 GAA).
However, Tremblay is a technically-sound, big-bodied goaltender, which should make him a valuable commodity in Pittsburgh this June.
Tremblay currently ranks sixth among North American goaltenders, but with the aforementioned Malcolm Subban, Jon Gillies (Indiana in the USHL) and Saginaw’s Jake Paterson not playing in the game, Tremblay has a golden opportunity to shine and show scouts he’s ready to take the next step.
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