As Advertised

Olivier Boutin has come as advertised.

The Quebec City product and overage defender has brought much needed stability and leadership to the Moncton Wildcats backend in his short time in the Hub City. You can look at the stat sheet all you want, but Boutin’s impact goes far beyond that aspect of the game.

Photo Credit Daniel St Louis

Boutin who recently surpassed the 100-career point milestone played a massive role in the Gatineau Olympiques rebuild and rise to one of the QMJHL’s best teams in the last two seasons. Obviously, that rebuild consisted of a plethora of high-profile draft picks, high expectations and championship aspirations.

Junior hockey’s vicious cycle doesn’t always produce hardware. It’s incredibly difficult to win the President Cup (Gilles Courteau Trophy). Through all the ups and downs in Gatineau, Olivier Boutin has come as advertised throughout his entire career. He’s been the picture of consistency and a rock on the backend ever since he stepped on the ice in the QMJHL.

The intangibles the 20-year-old brings to the fold are truly invaluable. His compete level has been off the charts. You know exactly what you’re going to get every time he laces them up which the Cats so desperately needed coming into a season full of high expectations of their own.

Boutin’s presence in the line up gives the Cats coaching staff options on so many levels. Boutin can play both sides of the ice with relative ease, he can play in any situation. The Cats haven’t elected to play him on the power play on a consistent basis as of yet, but he can definitely run things back there as well.

Photo Credit Daniel St Louis

Olivier Boutin isn’t going to overpower opponents, but he’s not going to back down from anyone in the league. His compete level, passion for the game and position is unrelenting. It’s not difficult to see that this veteran defender takes pride in playing the game the right way.

The tale of the tape has never mattered when it comes to his style of play. This kid has always played bigger than his size and stature back there and is no doubt one of the most underrated two-way defenders in the QMJHL.

His two and half zone presence, grit and character will hopefully continue to rub off on the other young talented defenders the Wildcats possess. Oscar Plandowski and Boutin have combined to provide tons of character, leadership and consistency for the Cats during the first half of the 2023-24 season.

It’s extremely difficult to crack a QMJHL as an overager, it’s highly competitive with each organization laying the framework for their own unique requirements. Ritchie Thibeau and his staff have a done a great job identifying what their group needed this year with regards to overagers in their lineup.  It’s not always about the stat sheet when it comes to overagers and their impact.

Photo Credit Daniel St Louis

Plandowski, Connor Trenholm and Boutin have provided invaluable experience, grit, character, guidance and leadership throughout the first half of the season and that trend will definitely continue heading into the second half of the season and what the organization hopes to be a long successful playoff race. 

There’s always a lot of hype that surrounds certain players especially overagers in the QMJHL. Every organization values their overagers differently, nevertheless, when they come as advertised their impact is immeasurable.

Olivier Boutin Current QMJHL Career Totals: 268 games 27 goals 82 assists 109 points 153 PIM’s +62