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CHL to NCAA Recruiting Megathread

cinnamoroll said:
5/6 preview

KIT/BAR game 1, 7pm

news dump;

07 F Philippe Veilleux commits to Northeastern, played for Val d'Or Foreurs. Second leading point scorer in the league with 96, tbd on arrival. He was in very high demand, reportedly the suitors numbered 30 and included Michigan, Quinnipiac, ASU... Northeastern gets another elite QMJHL talent.

The 9 of the top 10 point getters in the QMJHL league are all college commits, the one exception being #7 Carbonneau, who has an NHL ELC signed.
Click to expand...
It's been said before, and I don't know where you find time to both eat and sleep, never mind work - but your unrelenting efforts on this thread are appreciated by many out here in the college hockey world. Thanks again!
 
05 F Cooper Foster commits to LSSU, from the Ontario Soo, longtime Ottawa 67's. 2023 6th round pick by Pittsburgh

06 D Matthew Virgilio commits to Yale, current Moncton Wildcat who had 2 years with the Soo and 1 year in Niagara before Moncton picked him up.

Barrie gets a $15k fine and it has been confirmed Beaudoin will not be available for the OHL finals.
 
OldAlum said:
It's been said before, and I don't know where you find time to both eat and sleep, never mind work - but your unrelenting efforts on this thread are appreciated by many out here in the college hockey world. Thanks again!
Click to expand...
aw thanks again for the kind words :') mostly i just find this stuff interesting. and people had some dumb enough takes when the rule change hit i just needed to get the record straight 🫣

glad to help out where i can
 
Kitchener 5-2 Barrie in game 1 of the OHL Finals
shots: 32-27, power plays 0/0, 0/3

Kitchener: MacNeil 2g, Arquette 1g1a, Edwards (Quinnipiac) 1g, Kirsch (Quinnipiac) 25 saves on 27 shots
Barrie: Wilmott (OSU) 2g, Zebeski (UNH) 2a

Andrew MacNeil is not known for goal scoring. This season he had 2 goals, the first two of his OHL career in 3 seasons. He is a good player- habs drafted him 6th round, he's clearly a certain type of defenseman- but he is not here for points and definitely not for goals. Obviously this is who scores twice in the championship series opener. Random side quest is Sam O'Reilly setting a new playoff record for most empty net goals (this is his 4th straight championship appearance).

Barrie definitely got away with a few penalties but were remarkably disciplined on the whole. They were even grabbing some momentum when Kitchener forgot how to play in the neutral zone for a lot of the second period, but then an unfortunate incident stopped everything.

Barrie's Joe Salandra (Harvard 27-28) and Kitchener's Cameron Reid (Michigan) crossed paths awkwardly as the rush was coming up ice and in the collision, Salandra's right leg was really badly hurt. He was alert and responsive but he could not move and had to be stretchered off. The officials decided to go to intermission early and play last 50 seconds of the 2nd period before the third. Kitchener went to their locker room while the entire Colts roster took a knee on the ice in support. Definitely not intentional, no penalties or even retaliation on Reid, but this stopped whatever momentum they were building and let the Rangers settle back into their normal rhythm. Sending all the love and good wishes to Salandra on a swift recovery, but I don't think he'll be back during the playoffs.

Great start to what should be a fun series. Game 2 on friday!
 
McGoverners said:
It's hard to say. I doubt the City gets up to watch the kids opposed to pros. Hockey makes good family entertainment on winter weekends and there are only so many available dates. I personally would prefer the Q team, but with the bias of it being a potential pipeline to Orono.
Click to expand...

I think this is likely right. There may be a bit of a lane like Hearts of Pine, where they can argue "hey we are winning games for the glory of Portland, and our guys can't get called up to Providence or Worcester in the middle of a playoff race" but probably not. The winter sports market has the Mariners and (former) Red Claws and I think that's enough.

For better or worse, Lewiston is not what it was even twenty years ago. The economy is mediocre at best, the population base has REALLY changed, I don't think you can point to it as Maine's hockey capital anymore. Hockey's an expensive sport, and the bedroom communities of Portland have had a lot more success than the Lewiston/Auburn area at the high school and youth levels recently. Heck St. Dom's just closed. To put it bluntly, Somalis aren't going to pack the Colisee for a QMJHL team.

Without Portland or Lewiston as good options, not sure what you do if you want to put a team in Maine. The greater Bangor area has UMaine. I don't think that there's the population or money in Aroostook County or the Capital area to support a major junior team. Maybe you put it in Saco/Biddeford and try to sell it as the only game in town?
 

QMJHL Finals​

This matchup felt inevitable by January.

(1) Moncton Wildcats vs. (2) Chicoutimi Saguenéens​

1 Fri. 2026-05-08 7pm AT Chicoutimi Moncton
2 Sat. 2026-05-09 7pm AT Chicoutimi Moncton
3 Tue. 2026-05-12 7pm ET Moncton Chicoutimi
4 Wed. 2026-05-13 7pm ET Moncton Chicoutimi
5* Fri. 2026-05-15 7pm AT Chicoutimi Moncton
6* Sun. 2026-05-17 7pm ET Moncton Chicoutimi
7* Tue. 2026-05-19 7pm AT Chicoutimi Moncton

Moncton:
  • F Alex Mercier, Merrimack, OA
  • F Preston Lounsbury, Holy Cross, OA
  • F Simon Binkley, Alaska, 06
  • F Teddy Mutryn, BC, 07
  • F Grayden Robertson-Palmer, Dartmouth, 07
  • F Rian Chudzinski, BU, 07
  • F Kuzma Voronin, Maine, 06
  • F Niko Tournas, UNH, 06
  • F Gavin Cornforth, UMass, 06
  • D Tommy Bleyl, Michigan State, 07
  • D Matthew Virgilio, Yale, 06
  • G Rudy Guimond, Harvard, OA
  • G Jacoby Weiner, Harvard, 08

notes on the team:
Two of their most important players are both on NHL ELCs- Gabe Smith and Caleb Desnoyers. Smith leads the QMJHL playoffs in points. Guimond has been full marks all playoffs with few blemishes. Tied for second are Teddy Mutryn and Tommy Bleyl. Mutryn has been a lightning rod for the Wildcats, the type of player who rarely loses a puck battle and pisses off the other team. Bleyl won both Rookie of the Year and Defenseman of the Year. Niko Tournas is a big time scorer who just snapped a cold streak in game 7, if he gets hot, it will be a big plus. Moncton has been here before and they’re hoping to go back-to-back.

Chicoutimi:
  • F Émile Ricard, Omaha, 07
  • F Maxim Massé, UMass, 06
  • F Nathan Lecompte, Northeastern, 07
  • F Mavrick Lachance, Merrimack, 06
  • F Gryphon Watson-Bucci, Merrimack, 06
  • F Liam Lefebvre, UVM, 07
  • F Emmanuel Vermette, Sacred Heart, OA
  • D Peteris Bulans, BGSU, OA
  • D Jordan Tourigny, Northeastern, OA
  • D Alex Huang, Harvard, 07

notes:
Chicoutimi is scary. They loaded up at the deadline and began outsourcing literally everyone once some of their acquired assets got back to full health. The one blemish on them so far during the playoffs is the early loss of F Maxim Schäfer 2 games in, but it was just confirmed that he is cleared to return for the finals. G Lucas Beckman (NHL ELC) has been full value for them as well. The scariest player for them is QMJHL MVP Maxim Massé, the only player in the league to surpass 100 points.

One notable difference in how each team got here- while both swept their first two series and went 6 and 7 games respectively in the semifinals, the Wildcats have had two overtime games, one going all the way to 4OT. Moncton has scored more goals but given up more, their GF/GA differential is around the same. PK numbers are both solid, but the Chicoutimi power play is 34%. They also take more penalties (and have drawn more).
 
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