With the 2024-25 NHL regular season starting in less than two months, it’s time to take a look at a list of former QMJHL players who could build on strong 2023-24 seasons. There were a lot of stars and triumphant returns, so let’s dive right into it.
The player who will arguably have the most potential to elevate their game is also the last first-overall selection to come from the QMJHL. When the New York Rangers selected Alexis Lafreniere in 2020, he was coming off a 35-goal, 112-point season with the Rimouski Oceanic, the team that drafted him first overall in 2017 and which he spent all three seasons playing for in the QMJHL.
Lafreniere made the jump to the NHL following his draft year, as most first-overall picks do. Although each season was better than the previous points wise, it still took time for Lafreniere to find his footing. But last season, his game improved more than in others as he finished with 28 goals and 57 points in 82 games. In the playoffs, he finished with eight goals and 16 points and scored a memorable goal against the Florida Panthers.
The next player on this list is Jonathan Drouin, who is more of a veteran than Lafreniere. Drouin was a superstar in the QMJHL, amassing a whopping 77 goals and 242 points in only 128 games played. The 2013 Memorial Cup champion was drafted third-overall a few months later by the Tampa Bay Lightning.
Drouin’s journey since starting in the NHL has been rocky, to say the least. He was traded to the Montreal Canadiens after only three seasons with Tampa Bay. While it provided a fresh start, Drouin struggled to remain consistent. Last season, he signed a one-year deal with the Colorado Avalanche and reunited with former Mooseheads teammate and first-overall pick Nathan Mackinnon. The odds are in Drouin’s favour to build on his career high 19-goal, 56-point season as Mackinnon’s winger.
The third player on this list is also the only non-Canadian. With the 21st overall pick in the 2016 CHL import draft, the Quebec Remparts selected Swiss forward Philipp Kurashev. During his three seasons with the team, Kurashev put up 69 goals and 179 points in 183 games, which was good enough for the Chicago Blackhawks to select him 120th overall in the 2018 NHL draft.
Before last season, Kurashev put up 23 goals and 62 points over three seasons with the Blackhawks. But last season, he exploded for 18 goals and 54 points in 75 games as Connor Bedard’s winger, finishing second in scoring on an underperforming team. With the arrivals of offensive support such as Teuvo Teravainen and Tyler Bertuzzi through free agency, Kurashev could continue to progress.
The final candidate on this list is Montreal Canadiens goaltender Samuel Montembeault. The former Blainville-Boisbriand Armada goalie was selected 77th overall by the Panthers in 2015. After being unable to prove himself with them, he was put on waivers and claimed by the Canadiens, a moment that changed his life.
Since arriving in Montreal, each season has better than the previous for Montembeault, who managed to put up a 3.14 GAA and .903 save percentage while providing solid goaltending for a young Canadiens team last season. The departure of Jake Allen means Montembeault and Cayden Primeau will share the net. If Montembeault plays as well as he did last season, he should earn most of the starts.
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