Montreal Canadiens: QMJHL Prospects Set to Kickoff Season This Weekend

The Montreal Canadiens are often criticized inside their own market for not having enough homegrown talent on the roster.

While it is true that their only local players last season were Jonathan Drouin and Phillip Danault, that could change very quickly.

Not only have they signed a trio of local players with David Savard, Mathieu Perreault and Cedric Paquette joining the organization, but many more talented young players appear to be on their way in the near future.

We will get a better look at these prospects starting this weekend. The QMJHL season begins today and with it are a handful of quality prospects of the Montreal Canadiens who should all play big roles on their Junior teams. The Junior leagues have dealt with serious scheduling issues over the past two seasons due to the global pandemic so it is difficult to predict which teams are favourites to go deep this season, but you can be certain these Habs prospects will play a big role in their team’s success.

Riley Kidney was a second round pick of the Canadiens in the 2021 NHL Draft after a 38 point season in 33 games. He added 17 points in just nine playoff games. He is an incredibly smart and crafty playmaking centre who scored at over a point per game pace in his 17 year old Junior season. He should be an offensive force for the Acadie-Bathurst Titan this season which begins on Friday night.

Joshua Roy was selected in the 5th round of the 2021 NHL Draft and put on quite a show in a short stint at Canadiens training camp. He was sent back to the QMJHL quickly but that is pretty standard procedure for the Canadiens as they like to get their teenaged players back to their Junior teams early. Roy scored 22 goals and 35 points in 35 games last season and should fill nets with pucks in the QMJHL this season for the Sherbrooke Phoenix starting on Friday night.

William Trudeau was taken in the 4th round of the 2021 NHL Draft. He was on a deep Charlottetown Islanders team last season and scored 31 points in 40 games. The soon-to-be 19 year old displayed a nice skating stride and offensive instincts early on in rookie camp with the Canadiens and is poised to have a big season for the Islanders which also begins on Friday night.

Xavier Simoneau also joins the Charlottetown Islanders this season after an offseason trade from the Drummondville Voltigeurs. He is a little older than the others at 20, but he has tons of skill that has been on display throughout his QMJHL career to date. He scored 37 points in 27 games last season and had 89 points in 61 games the season prior. As an overager this season, Simoneau should be among the leading scorers in the QMJHL.