QMJHL Top Contenders for 2020-2021
Who are the QMJHL’s Top contenders?
If there is a season, when will it start?
Who are the top prospects for this year’s draft?
Will the draft be more intense than ever from a trade perspective given the fact teams don’t know for sure how many games will be played?
There’s tons of uncertainty right now in the world and everything around the hockey world seems pretty insignificant in the grand scheme of things.
Nevertheless, the upcoming QMJHL Draft has certainly helped motivate fans and media alike.
We will have to wait for the QMJHL CSR’s Final List to publicized before we can fully identify the top prospects.
The Maritimes have a plethora of draft eligible talent.
From a regular season perspective, one can only speculate that there are a number of different scenarios on the table and obviously the game totals are completely dependent upon start up dates.
The CHL model is codependent on fans being in the seats, so clearly one can speculate the QMJHL season to look drastically different.
As for the contenders one has to look at a few organizations trending in the right direction.
The season could be very wide open given the number of games being played which may also influence fringe teams to hold onto their key assets for an impromptu championship run.
Goaltending and defensive structure will be massive key in a shorten season.
Teams to watch for that are close and would be considered teams that could surprise next season are the Charlottetown Islanders, Blainville Boisbriand Armada and the Victoriaville Tigres.
Those three organizations are very close in their pursuit of a championship run.
The Tigres underachieved this year and will look to rebound.
This was supposed to the be Tigres year and it may very well be if they decide to take a run.
The Islanders made a considerable amount of trades that have flown under the radar in effort to make a run with their talented core group for the 2021-2022 season.
The Islanders will need to solidify their goaltending tandem to take the bulk of the load and pressure off of Jacob Goobie’s shoulders.
Goobie is an exceptional young netminder with a very bright future, but the Islanders won’t rush him into the starters role until he’s ready.
With Jim Hulton behind the bench anything can happen.
The Armada have been building for quite some time and are a very well coached team.
Blainville surprised a lot of teams this season and will continue to do so if they stick to their system and culture.
Bruce Richardson has done a very good job and is an extremely passionate coach who demands his players to out work their opponents each and every night.
The Armada are a dangerous team that could continue to surprise a lot of teams next season.
The Saint John Sea Dogs would have to be considered in this pack of teams as well.
There’s no question the Dogs have tons of issues to address, but they could still surprise based on the sheer volume of talent in their lineup.
What about the top contenders?
The 2020-2021 season will be wide open, but there are a few teams that have a very good chance at taking a run at the President Cup if they make the right moves come the draft and upcoming Trade Period.
The Shawinigan Cataractes the Val-Dor Foreurs, the Drummondville Voltigeurs, and the Baie-Comeau Drakkar will all have an excellent opportunity to raise the President Cup.
Probably the most shocking turnaround is the Drummondville Voltigeurs, what they have accomplished building another championship caliber team in this short of time frame is extraordinary.
The 2020-2021 QMJHL will be an exciting and pressure pack season, we just don’t know when it take place!
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