Prospect Info: Prospect Rating #9 (2023 Version)

[CheckingLineCenter]

Belliveau's birthday is in November '02. For a player to be eligible for the draft, they have to be 18 by September 15th of that year. Belliveau was still 17 in 2020, so he wasn't even draft-eligible until 2021, which is the year he was drafted.
Ergo, not an overager - he was drafted the first year he was eligble.

I think the debate is more about if he was considered overage for the CHL.

 

[Freeptop]

I don't think this is who Belliveau is.

For one thing, I think he's got a bit more of a developed offensive skillset than Dumo. An easy comp for Belliveau is Pierre-Olivier Joseph, and from an eyeballing, I think Belliveau's ES production was better than POJ at D+2. His goal production definitely was. Wheeler said he had above average offensive skill in his January write up. I think Belliveau could be interesting offensively, although not in a major way.

I also think hoping for a Dumo-like guy from a guy who Wheeler said "His backward skating and reads off of the puck can get him into trouble defending the rush" is a bit, well, hopeful.

Now, Wheeler does also say "he has become a real play-driver offensively in Gatineau and his underlying defensive results have been really strong this season" and that's a brighter view on him than previously had.

But.

I look at Belliveau and my hope is... well, POJ. A useful two way bottom pairing dman who drives possession but doesn't feel utterly trustworthy.

But with a lot less error for room in development due to not being a plus skater.

So... I dunno, I wouldn't say he is a bad vote here. But, that's my read at least.

Ack, I had a reply to this typed out, and thought I'd posted it, and it just... disappeared somehow.

Anyway, my fault here was in making a player comparison, I suppose. I didn't mean that Belliveau plays exactly the same as Dumoulin, but more that I felt that if he made it to the NHL, his role would be similar - complement to an offensive defensemen.
Belliveau's got more offensive talent, but he doesn't play aggressively like a Letang or a Karlsson. When he shoots, it's generally more from the point, rather than cutting into the slot, for example. As such, I see him as more likely to end up being more of a "two-way" player, which in this case, would be to focus more on defense while still providing some ability on offense. He makes a good pass out of the zone, for example.

Granted, this is all based entirely on my own limited viewings of him. I'm making this assessment based on my perception of how he plays, not on what others have said about him or his stats. But again, I'm no scout, so in all likelihood, I'm terribly, terribly wrong!