| Niks Fenenko | Baie-Comeau Drakkar | QMJHL | L | D | 6’1″ | 170 | Baie-Comeau Drakkar | 2021 | Riga | 2004 | 2021-2022: B- |
Fenenko is playing in his rookie year in the Quebec league and settling in nicely. He is averaging over 19:00 minutes per game and has 14 points, 13 assists, through 21 games played. Although the left shot defenseman is long and still looks quite thin, we feel he is strong on his skates and shows a good understanding of using leverage to get his opponents off balance. There are certain times when Fenenko has his shoulders out over his toes, but he initiates contact with his hips low and his stick on the ice. We like the athleticism Fenenko shows while keeping pucks in along the offensive blue. It doesn’t matter if he is on the left or right side as he is light on his feet and his hands are prepared for strange bounces. He does not appear to have a rocket from the point, but we have noticed how smoothly he can move laterally and his shots hit the net. Fenenko also shows the ability to one-time poor passes and bouncing pucks. In the defensive zone he does not get tied up while boxing out or clearing shooting lanes in front of his net. Instead he shows game awareness and anticipation by arriving to the dangerous area early to establish his ice, therefor keeping the lane clear and his stick loose and ready for loose pucks. As we said Fenenko is light on his feet with a long stride. We feel with continued off-ice training focused on gaining power as well as adding weight Fenenko could mature into an NHL defenseman who contributes in a top 6 role while killing penalties and possibly seeing time on a second power play unit.
| Felix Gagnon | Baie-Comeau Drakkar | QMJHL | R | F | 6’0″ | 161 | Baie-Comeau Drakkar | 2020 | Jonquière, QC | 2004 | 2021-2022: C |
Gagnon is currently in his second season with Baie-Comeau and has already surpassed last year’s point total in the team’s first 20 games. Normally we do not put a lot of credence in plus / minus, but we feel it is worth noting that although Drakkar has a wide variance of +13 to -18 Gagnon currently sits at +3. Although he is not a burner right now, he has a nice shoulder width skating base with a deep knee bend that will allow him to gain speed as he continues to develop his leg drive and power. Gagnon is a straight forward center, who is at his best when he keeps simple and attacks the net.
| Anthony Lavoie | Baie-Comeau Drakkar | QMJHL | L | D | 6’0″ | 190 | Baie-Comeau Drakkar | 2020 | Saint-Michel, QC | 2004 | 2021-2022: C |
In his second QMJHL season Lavoie is a tank of a defender for Baie-Comeau. It is a rarity to see him head into battle and not see an opponent go flying or bounce off of him when they try to take a run at him. As we said above normally we do not put a lot of credence in plus / minus, but we feel it is worth noting that Drakkar has a wide variance of +13 to -18 Gagnon currently leads the team with a +13. As a defense first thinking defenseman he is strong on his feet with very strong hands and when you watch him play you expect him to win every loose puck. We love his willingness to block shots and think he is a very effective penalty killer. As he continues to mature and head towards the professional game Lavoie will need to focus on gaining an explosive first step and a quicker release on his shots from the point, but we love his team first attitude and mentality.
| Vincent Deschenes | Baie-Comeau Drakkar | QMJHL | L | D | 6’1″ | 154 | Baie-Comeau Drakkar | 2020 | Trois-Rivieres, QC | 2004 | Long Term Player Watch |
Although Deschenes has been in and out of the line-up and is not anyone’s draft watchlist, there are a few things worth noting in his game. He is listed as a long and lanky 6’1″ and 154 pounds which means he probably weighs approximately 140 pounds. So in reality we’re looking at a 6’1″ 140lbs defenseman who has excellent body positioning when heading into corner battles. Although he might bounce off of contact Deschenes goes into battle on his inside edges with his chest up and his hips low while mentally looking to make the right play. In our opinion this is a player who is a few years from making an impact, but we feel there a lot of little things in his game that make him worth watching.
| Emile Chouinard | Baie-Comeau Drakkar | QMJHL | R | D | 6’5″ | 198 | Baie-Comeau Drakkar | 2019 | Québec, QC | 2003 | 2021-2022: C+ |
Chouinard is a player who we feel should have been drafted last year. He has a nice combination of toughness, hockey IQ and when paired with the fact that he’s a 6’5″ right shot defenseman we feel NHL teams should be taking a real hard look at him in his second year of eligibility. Here are our thoughts heading into the 2021 NHL Draft: NHL Draft Thoughts: Chouinard is likely going to be higher on our board than he is on others and it’s because of how he played here. He is a bit of a throwback in his defensive style but he’s better with the puck than he gets credit for and while he’s not the fastest or the quickest he has an athletic stride so with more time, experience, flexibility and weight room assistance he could make real improvements in that area. He’s certainly intriguing given his size, his ability to shut down even some of the top echelon forward here. One of the areas that make him stand out is that he’s both tough and physical and calculated; most calculated players aren’t tough and most tough players aren’t calculated so he brings a rare skill set which could land him a draft spot come July. He’s not on NHL Central Scouting rankings and he didn’t blow anyone away this season in the QMJHL so it’ll take the right scenario but his performance here, if nothing else, is putting him on the map and we think it could lead to a draft selection.
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