Xavier Simoneau is a player most wouldn’t expect a lot from at first glance, but the Montreal Canadiens ultimately saw otherwise. After being passed over in the previous two NHL Entry Drafts, the Quebec native was taken in the 6th round, 191st overall by the Canadiens on Saturday.
A 20-year-old center and captain of the QMJHL’s Drummondville Voltigeurs, Simoneau has been a consistent offensive producer for the club since being taken 9th overall by the team in the league’s 2017 Entry Draft. After putting up 17-28-45 totals over 61 games in his rookie season in 2017-18, Simoneau registered career highs of 28-61-89 totals in 2019-20, which doubtless caught the eye of a number of NHL teams. However, as stated, Simoneau had to wait through all of the 2019 and 2020 Drafts before hearing his name called by Montreal in 2021, mainly due to an issue which has plagued many a few undrafted players, size.
At 5’7 and 175 pounds, Simoneau has had to battle and battle hard to stand out amongst the crowd in junior, and has done so for the most part, becoming the Voltigeurs driving force on offense alongside former New York Islanders fifth round pick William Dufour. For Montreal, Simoneau represents the exact kind of prospect the Habs have seen positive results from recently with the AHL’s Laval Rocket, and possibly down the line, the Canadiens themselves. Rafael Harvey-Pinard and Joel Teasdale were both late round/undrafted additions by the Canadiens out of the QMJHL, and both contributed greatly to the Rocket’s Canadian Division Title in 2020-21.
Pinard was a former 40-goal threat in the Q whom the Rocket had signed to an AHL deal after Montreal had yet to pick him up on an entry-level contract. After posting 9-11-20 totals over 36 games, along with a +10 rating, however, the Canadiens signed Pinard to a two-year deal in May. Teasdale formerly played under former Rocket head coach Joel Bouchard with the Blainville-Boisbriand Armada, and proved his worth as an immensely capable offensive player and over-ager star in the 2018-19 season.
After being taken in the sixth round, 191st overall by the Montreal Canadiens, Xavier Simoneau brings a lot of upside to the Habs’ AHL and ECHL affiliates.
In spite of injuries continually limiting his start in the Canadiens organization, Teasdale managed solid 8-10-18 totals over 26 games this past season. In that same sense, I see Simoneau as being cut from the same cloth as both Pinard and Teasdale, and a potential future regular/potential star for the Rocket down the line. While his skating leaves something to be desired, making it difficult at times to compensate for his small frame, Simoneau possesses solid offensive awareness, a decent shot, and a penchant for being a talented, top-line playmaker.
He reads the play well, has shown the ability to be a leader on and off the ice in his captaincy with Drummondville, and in my opinion, is an excellent late-round addition by the Canadiens, in a draft where they made quite a few. Barring in mind the controversial first-round selection of Logan Mailloux (which I have talked about and similarly been criticized for), picks like fifth round selection Joshua Roy should compliment Simoneau well, and more importantly the Rocket and potentially the Trois Rivieres Lions as well.
Most late-round picks like Roy and Simoneau obviously take more time to develop as compared to earlier picks, but Simoneau should at least be able to join the Rocket or Lions out of the gate after finishing his over-ager season in 2020-21. Roy (a former first overall pick in the QMJHL draft) is only 17 and has just begun developing, which spells a promising future for the 6’00 tall winger. With the Canadiens continually being criticized for their lack of Quebec born players on the roster, their numerous ECHL, AHL and now Entry Draft additions should make up for that, at least partially, and give the Canadiens some dang good minor league affiliates in the process.
Should Simoneau be signed and subsequently assigned to Laval, its likely he’ll have to fight for a roster spot out of the gate, but even if he ends up in Trois-Rivieres, there quite frankly couldn’t be a better place for him to start. Having remarked in interviews his admiration of former Canadiens regular and ECHL all-star David Desharnais, I have no doubt Simoneau could be similarly effective with the Lions. I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again, GM Marc-Andre Bergeron’s addition of Olivier Archambault this past off-season gives the Lions a truly deadly offensive player, and in my mind, a perfect compliment for Simoneau to allow him to similarly thrive offensively.
In the end, it’s a no-risk pick by the Canadiens, but one I feel carries tremendous upside and promise for their affiliates, and potentially, as stated, the Canadiens as well. While it will require a bit of seasoning to get to that point, I think fans in Laval and Trois Rivieres should be excited for the arrival, of Xavier Simoneau.