The newspaper presents you the top 20 Canadian prospects who don’t yet have a locker in the team’s locker room. This is a list of achievements compiled after multiple observations and conversations with recruiters. Five players from Quebec are among the 20 candidates.

20. Quentin Miller

› 4^e Round (128^e) in 2024

>Guardian

› Quebec (LHJMQ)

› 14-4-0 | 2.11 | .911

At 18 years old, Miller is still very young. He will serve as the number one goalie for the Quebec Remparts, a team that is rebuilding after winning the Memorial Cup.

19. Miguel Tourigny

› 7^e Tower (216^e) in 2022

› Defender

› Trencin (Slovakia)

› 26 points (6 B, 20 P) in 44 games

Tourigny decided to move to Slovakia last season. By his own admission, he has made significant progress from this experience and has become a more well-rounded defender.

18. Cedrick Guindon

› 4^e Round (127^e) in 2022

>Left winger

› Owen Sound (OHL)

› 69 points (22g, 47p) in 68 games

Another small forward in the prospect bank. The French-Ontarian received an invitation to the Canadian team’s summer camp for the World Junior Championships.

17. Xavier Simoneau

Photo credit: Photo Martin Chevalier

› 6^e Tower (191^e) in 2021

> middle

› Laval

› 38 points (6g, 32p) in 62 games

Simoneau has an obvious quality, that of a worker. Despite his lack of size, he found opportunities to play offensively in his first season with the Rockets last year.

16. Jared Davidson

› 5^e round (130^e) in 2022

› Center / winger

› Seattle (WHL)

› 82 points (38 B, 44 P) in 60 games

A good scorer in the Western Junior League. Davidson wasn’t drafted until he was 19 and played in Seattle as a 20-year-old last season. During the first part of camp he received kind words from Martin St-Louis and Alex Burrows
this season.

15. Riley kidney

› 2^e Round (63^e) in 2021

> middle

› Gatineau/Acadie-Bathurst (LHJMQ)

› 110 points (28 B, 82 P) in 60 games

Offensively, Kidney was a QMJHL champion with two seasons of 100 or more points. However, the Nova Scotian must have other strings to his bow. He has to learn to dirty his nose.

14. Jayden Struble

› 2^e Round (46^e) in 2019

› defender

› Northeast (NCAA)

› 12 points (1 B, 11 P) in 31 games

A complete athlete, a force of nature. Trevor Timmins described it like this. But also a fragile defender who spends too much time in the infirmary. After four years with the Huskies, Struble will play his first full season with the Rocket.

13. Bogdan Konyushkov

› 4th round (110^e) in 2024

› Defender

› Nizhny Novgorod (KHL)

› 25 points (2g, 23p) in 64 games

Martin Lapointe and Nick Bobrov listened to Igor Larionov’s recommendations by selecting this 20-year-old left-handed defenseman in the fourth round at the last draft. He has had a very good start to the season in the KHL, is playing a lot of minutes and is also doing well on offense.

12. Oliver Kapanen

Photo credit: Getty Images via AFP

› 2^e Round (64^e) in 2021

> middle

› KalPa (Finland)

› 27 points (12g, 15p) in 55 games

Kapanen is still far from being in the spotlight in his native Finland. He wore the captain’s “C” with the Finnish team at the World Juniors and was one of the good junior strikers in the Liiga.

11. Filip Mesar

> 1^um Round (26^e) in 2022

› Right wing/center

› Kitchener (OHL)

Mesar slipped out of the top 10 in this list. After a season in Kitchener, Ontario, the Slovakian wants to play for the Rocket this year. He needs to strengthen himself physically.

10. Jakub Dobes

› 5^e Tower (136^e) in 2020

>Guardian

› Ohio (NCAA)

› 21-16-3 | 2.31 | .918

On paper, Dobes will share work with Cayden Primeau in Laval. At the age of 22 he will experience his first professional season. He’s a great, athletic guard, but he’s going to need yardage.

9. William Trudeau

Photo credit: Photo Martin Chevalier

› 4^e Tower (113^e) in 2022

› Defender

› Laval (AHL)

› 27 points (7 B, 20 P) in 60 games

To reuse the words of Jean-François Houle during the rookie tournament, Trudeau is the one who “led the patent” on the blue line. He thwarted the organization’s plans last year by clinging to a spot with the Rocket. But he not only persevered, he became one of the good defenders.

8. Adam Engstrom

>3^e Round (92^e) in 2022

› Defender

› Rögle (Sweden)

› 16 points (6 B, 10 P) in 43 games

Engström is increasingly stepping out of the shadows. The 19-year-old is one of the top four on the blue line in Rögle, an organization that shaped Moritz Seider’s game before his arrival in Detroit.

7. Emil Heinemann

› 2^e Round (43^e) in 2020

>Left winger

› Laval (AHL)

› 9 points (7 B, 2 P) in 11 games

Heineman was acquired as part of the trade with the Flames for Tyler Toffoli and saw a great transition from Leksands to Laval last season. The Swede is a good skater and has a powerful stroke.

1. Lane Hutson

Photo credit: Photo MARTIN ALARIE / JOURNAL DE MONTREAL

› 2^e Round (62^e) in 2022

› Defender

› Boston University (NCAA)

› 48 points (15g, 33p) in 39 games

A diamond in the rough. Yes, he is small. Yes, he’s not big. But he has undeniable talent. He had a phenomenal rookie season and broke Brian Leetch’s points record. A brand that has existed since 1987. Hutson will remain at the school for at least another season. If he continues his progress and adapts well to the realities of professional hockey the day he makes the jump, the CH will have scored a bargain by claiming him at the end of the second round.