2- Halifax Mooseheads
3- Blainsville-Boisbriand Armada
4- Gatineau Olympiques
5- Moncton Wildcats
6- Rimouski Océanic
7- Acadie-Bathurst Titan
8- Baie-Comeau Drakkar
9- Val d'Or Foreurs
10- Cape Breton Screaming Eagles
11- Chicoutimi Saguenéens
12- Rouyn-Noranda Huksies
13- Sherbrooke Phoenix
14- Victoriaville Tigres
15- PEI Rocket
16- Saint John Sea Dogs
17- Drummondville Voltigeurs
18- Shawinigan Cataractes
1-
The Remparts had an excellent season last year with their youth, and Partick Roy will most certainly ensure they build on it this year. Expect Mikhail Grigorenko to be back in Quebec City, and Sorensen to be traded for some immediate help when he does. Grigorenko has excellent chemistry with Nikita Kucherov, which will be a dynamic duo that is near impossible to stop at the junior level. After these two, the Remparts still boast names such as Brandon Shea, Adam Erne, Logan Shaw and Anthony Duclair up front. The Remparts defence will also be solid with several returnees, including NHL draft pick Ryan Culkin, Martin Lefebvre and Marc-Antoine Carrier returning, followed by François Brassard in nets. Expect the Remparts to make additions at the dealine as well, leading to their regular season domination.
Offense 9/10
Defence 7/10
Goaltending 9/10
Depth 8/10
2-
The Mooseheads are another young team coming off an overachieving season, and are coming into this year actually expected to contend. With all of their young stars returning, the Mooseheads will have no troubles scoring with the likes of Martin Frk, Nathan Mackinnon and Jonathan Drouin in their top 6. The defence was given a huge boost with the news Konrad Abeltshauser will be returning this year as an overager rather then playing in the AHL, and Zach Fucale will be in nets looking to build upon last years stellar season. The Mooseheads are my current favourite to win the QMJHL title, but there expect a few tough stretches this season where the losses of locker room leaders Cam Critchlow and Travis Randall become apparent.
Offence 10/10
Defence 8/10
Goaltending 9/10
Depth 9/10
3-
The Armada surprised the QMJHL last year by winning the West division as a transferred team with very little talent left over from the former Montréal Juniors franchise. They used strong two-way play and depth to win their games, and over this off-season acquired more talent in NHL 1st rounder Stefan Matteau Jr, Jonathan Lavoie and Steve Lebel. They boast arguably the best forward depth in the Q and a strong defence corps led by Xavier Ouellette. Étienne Marcoux will tend the crease for the Armada, one of the best goalies in the QMJHL who will certainly steal some games for them this year.
Offence 8/10
Defence 9/10
Goaltending 9/10
Depth 10/10
4-
The Olympiques were very busy this off-season, leading to renewed sense of excitement for Piques fans. They acquired Yannick Dubé, winner of last years scoring title and two-way forward Taylor Burke. They then drafted a marquee talent at the import draft in Slovakian Martin Reway, who will likely receive premier minutes for the Olympiques. The Olympiques defence on paper is somewhat suspect, but will not cause them too much trouble with the amount of two-way forwards they possess and the energy the Olympiques play with. With the acquisition of Robert Steeves from Acadie-Bathurst the goaltending situation will be stable enough to label Gatineau a true contender this year.
Offence 9/10
Defence 8/10
Goaltending 7/10
Depth 9/10
5-
The Wildcats had a huge off-season this year, improving in almost every aspect via trades and the import draft. They acquired two excellent Euros in Dmitri Jaskin and Ivan Barbashev, and also got point-per-game winger Yannick Veilleux in a trade with Gatineau. The Wildcats are well-stocked with high end talent on forward and have excellent depth on defence. The Wildcats also received new starter Alex Dubeau in their deal with the Cataractes which is a huge upgrade on back-up Brandon Thibeau.
Offence 9/10
Defence 8/10
Goalie 8/10
Depth 8/10
6-
The Océanic have without a doubt lost some talent from last years QMJHL finals squad, but they also boast a lot of young talent, who all benefited from the long playoffs run last year. Frédérik Gauthier, Anothony DeLuca, Samuel Morin, Simon Boudreau, Maxime Gravel and Phillipe Desrosiers should all be prominently featured as 95s this year. They will be returning several solid veterans such as Peter Trainor and Scott Oke, along with two solid new Euros. This is my 'riser' team this year that should turn some heads, despite a lot of youth being leaned on.
Offence 8/10
Defence 7/10
Goaltending 6/10
Depth 7/10
7-
The Titan are all-in this year, headlined by their best players all being overagers this year in Zach O'Brien, Matthew Bissonette and Brandon Hynes. The Titan also have 2 new skilled Euros in Adam Zboril and Patrik Zdrahal, and added depth at forward by acquiring Raphael Lafontaine from Gatineau. The Titan also boast a solid young defense core that is expected to improve upon last years suspect defence. The Titan have an Achilles heel at the goaltender position however, heading in with an 18 year old backup goalie in Jake Brennan and a 16 year old back up in Mason MacDonald. Neither have proven much at QMJHL level so whether the Titan are capable of contending or not will on these two young goalies.
Offence 9/10
Defence 7/10
Goaltending 6/10
Depth 8/10
8-
The Drakkar turned some heads last year when, expected to be a cellar dweller they turned heads after an up and down season when they swept #4 seed and contender Victoriaville. The Drakkar come back this year one step further in their rebuilding process looking for youth to step up and bring some results. The Drakkar will rely on depth since their foremost offensive player is Raphael Bussieres, but have enough scoring depth to fare well in what looks like the QMJHLs weakest division. They have a good defence core headed by Samuel Carrier and a excellent young goalie in Phillipe Cadorette.
Offence 7/10
Defence 7/10
Goaltending 7/10
Depth 8/10
9-
The Foreurs head into this season in somewhat of an awkward stage. Their move to acquire premier Euro Anton Zlobin would tell you they are trying to compete, but looking at the Foreurs roster I don't see the talent that justifies trading futures for him. To be sure, the Foureurs will be better this year than last. The Foreurs forwards boast some decent scoring depth, but will not necessarily be expected to fill the nets. The defence corps is the true strength on this team, headlined by standout Russian Atrem Sergeev, and followed by solid defencemen Julien Leduc, Matt Murphy and Gabriel Beaupre. They will be the backbone of this team moving forward, and will hopefully help out Francois Tremblay fill out his potential as an elite QMJHL goaltender.
Offence 7/10
Defence 8/10
Goalie 7/10
Depth 7/10
10-
The Screaming Eagles head into this year amidst a rebuilding stage. They will be icing a lot of youth, but the Screaming boast some very solid two-way talents such as Bronson Beaton, William Carrier, Clark Bishop and Jutin Hache. The identity of this team will likely be defence based on the fact they lack offensive flair on the forward front. The defence core is strong for the Screaming Eagles, with a top 4 of Justin Hache, Loic Leduc, Stephen Woodworth and Jimmy Oligny headlining their top 4. The goaltending situation in Sydney has certainly improved this year, after the acquisition of David Hoznik from Victoriaville.
Offence 6/10
Defence 8/10
Goaltending 9/10
Depth 7/10
11-
The Sags had a solid playoff run last year, and traded away some important future pieces to do so, that being said, the youth is Chicoutimi is still in great shape. Charles Hudon, Guillaume Asselin, Lukas Sedlak and Jeremy Gregoire all return to a forward group that lost some talent this off-season. The Sags defence remains in good shape and is ready to be led by Matieu Gagnon, and must stand on their head to protect Phillipe Desrosiers, who as a 17 year old rookie will be expected to start.
Offence 7/10
Defence 7/10
Goaltending 6/10
Depth 7/10
12-
The Huskies are an intriuing young team with some interesting pieces up front. Denis Kamaev, Gabriel Desjardins and Sven Andrighetto headline a thin forward group. Dillon Fournier and Mathieu Brisebois headline the Huskies defence which should be above average if Justin Vanier-Guenette and Alexandre Leclerc break out as expected. Goalies Robin Gusse and Alexandre Bélanger were shaky last year with a weak squad in front of them, but Belanger in particular is expected to be better going into his draft year.
Offence 7/10
Defence 7/10
Goaltending 6/10
Depth 6/10
13-
The newly founded Sherbrooke Phoenix have added flexibility as an expansion franchise, with 5 overager spots. With this flexibility, the Phoenix went out and built themselves a deep, two-way team. Headlining the team will be overagers Maximillien Le Sieur and Jacob Gervais-Chouinard. These two players will be their clear cut best players at the forward and goaltender position. The big question mark in Sherbrooke lies in their inexperienced young defence and whether they can keep the team competing in games.
Offence 7/10
Defence 5/10
Goaltending 8/10
Depth 7/10
14-
The Tigres had an extremely disappointing playoffs list year after a strong season, many picked them to make it to at least the QMJHL semis, and were swept first round by the #13 seed. That was the Tigres contending year and it was a missed opportunity. This year the Tigres have very little scoring or depth left from last season, dealing away Yanick Dubé, last years leading Q scorer along with standouts Brandon Hynes and Stefan Fournier. What is left is a few strong players in Philip Danult, Philippe Halley and Phillipe Maillet along with defencemen Troy Vance and Petr Sidlik and goalie Brandon Whitney. Outside these players there are very few bright spots on this roster.
Offence 7/10
Defence 6/10
Goaltending 7/10
Depth 5/10
15-
The Rocket go into this season with things looking better in their rebuild. The forward group is looking stronger and again is led by Ben Duffy, who against the grain of speculation was not dealt this off-season. The defence also looks better with veterans Owen Werthner, Alex Micallef and Tomas Pavelka and young defencemen Ryan Graves and Mark Trickett a year more ready to compete. Maxime Lagacé should be solid in nets for with a better team in front of him this year.
16-
The Sea Dogs had an excellent run the last 3 years, placing 1st in each of the last three seasons. Their core lied in Stanislav Galiev, Tomas Jurco, Jonathan Huberdeau, Zach Phillips and Nathan Bealieu. This core all graduated or is going pro this year, leaving the Sea Dogs in rough shape heading into next year. Some notable holdovers are Ryan Tesink, Steven MacAulay, Kevin Gagné and Oliver Cooper. The Sea Dogs first line of Cooper-MacAulay-Tesink is a 2nd line for most teams, and their top 2 defencemen Kevin Gagné and Pierre Durepos fit the same bill. In nets they are fine shape with Sebastian Auger, backed up by American standout Drew Michals.
Offence - 6/10
Defence 6/10
Goaltending 7/10
Depth 5/10
17-
The Voltigeurs had a good year in 2011-2012, finishing 3rd in their division. Though they haven't sustained heavy losses this off-season, they have the weakest roster on paper in the QMJHL. The standouts on Drumondville are the Brouillard brothers, Marc-Antoine and Niklas and former #1 QMJHL entry draft pick Olivier Archambault. Guillaume Gauthier and Phillipe Venne have potential to break out this year as well, as they will get heavy minutes on such a thin forward corps. The defence will be thin as well, headlined by Nikolas Brouillard and overager Napessis André. Domenic Graham and Alexandre Verroneau will stabilize this team in net, which could be a tall task with the Voltigeurs division getting much tougher this off-season.
Offence 5/10
Defence 6/10
Goaltending 7/10
Depth 6/10
18-
It's not often you see a team who won a Memorial cup 2 months ago projected to be last in the league. However, when you ice a team with so many '92 borns, you must expect a difficult season ahead. Peter Sakaris, Dillon Donnelly and Loik Poudrier are the Cataractes only above average players, the rest of their roster will consist of draft picks and two-way energy forwards. Shawinigan and Saint John remain decisive proof of how quick a contender can turn into a cellar dweller in junior hockey.
Offence 5/10
Defence 6/10
Goaltending 6/10
Depth 5/10
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