Canadiens open doors for QMJHL prospects with exciting initiative

On Tuesday morning, the Montreal Canadiens hosted six prospects eligible for the 2025 NHL Draft. The team invited the top prospects from the QMJHL, including Caleb Desnoyers (Moncton), Justin Carbonneau (Blainville-Boisbriand), Bill Zonnon (Rouyn-Noranda), Zachary Morin (Saint John), Mateo Nobert (Blainville-Boisbriand), and Lucas Beckman (Baie-Comeau). The team hoped to give the players a glimpse of what they could be walking into once they heard their names called in June.

The visit started with a tour of the home dressing room in Montreal before the team shared videos and pictures of them chatting with Nick Suzuki, Juraj Slafkovsky, Martin St. Louis, and a special visit between Beckman and Sam Montembeault. Beckman is the third-ranked North American Goalie on NHL.com. Getting the opportunity to meet St. Louis would be a good enough experience as he is the head coach of an NHL team, but he was also able to give some insight as a Quebec-born Hall of Famer.

Desnoyers is the top-ranked prospect in the group, as central scouting has him around the 5-10 range, while some argue he could sneak his way into the top-ten. Justin Carbonneau is next-up in the mid-first round, while Zonnon also has the potenial to sneak into the late-first round or early-second round. The status of Morin and Nobert is a bit more up in the air, as they are more likely to go in the second to third round range. Nevertheless, there is no shortage of talent from Quebec this season.

The Canadiens could have the chance to draft one or two of these players, so getting them in for an early look isn't the worst idea. Montreal has their pick and the Calgary Flames first-round pick this season, which could fall somewhere in the mid-first round. It's unlikely they'll take two forwards from Quebec, but there is a chance that both Desnoyers and Carbonneau will be available when they are on the clock. Scouting sources told RG.org that it's also possible, and they are high on Carbonneau's ceiling.

“If you’re asking me who the Canadiens should pick in the mid-first-round, it’s Justin Carbonneau. We know Montreal loves to have a home-grown star in their lineup, and I’d personally love to see him stay in Quebec,” a QMJHL source said. “Carbonneau could be the elite Quebecois scorer they thought they were getting when they acquired Jonathan Drouin.”

Was this initiative a ploy for an early meeting with some players they are thinking of drafting? If it was, hats off to the front office. Desnoyers would be a valuable two-way center for whoever drafts him, and Carbonneau has some elite offensive upside. We'll see if the images of those players in the locker room will be some interesting foreshadowing for June.