Best teams in the league next year?

[Number 57]

Still early of course but always fun to speculate

TOP TEAMS:
Blainville-Boisbriand - they have been improving this year and should get most of their players back next season
Charlottetown - the defense should be great and I believe the GM will make moves to improve the squad
Quebec - a young team on the rise, and I believe Roy doesn't want to lose anymore, he'll make moves
Saint John - there is no other way around it, the kids need to take the next step and start winning
Shawinigan - if they get better progression from their youth next year, should be near the top of the league
Sherbrooke - if Poulin is back, they still have enough remaining to compete (Hlavaj, Tardif, Parent, Guay, Peach)
Val d'Or - expected to be among the top teams, they have a ton of great young pieces

MIDDLE TEAMS:
Bathurst - they have a ton of young players so they are bound to improve a little.... somewhat
Baie-Comeau - Legare and Merisier-Ortiz will lead them until the deadline, some interesting youth
Chicoutimi - I think they'll have enough returning players to compete, might even go for it again
Gatineau - a team on the rise with 3 high first round picks in 2020
Rouyn - they have some good pieces, but I don't believe they'll be elite yet, might sell of Beaucage
Victoriaville - a few good acquisitions could elevate this team to the top

REBUILDING TEAMS:
Cape Breton - won't have much left perhaps only Francis, Lafrance, Ivan, Baker, McCormick, Grimard
Drummondville - could be up with the middle teams but selling Simoneau would hurt them a lot
Halifax - the rebuild continues
Moncton - they'll lose most of the roster but a Pelletier/L'Heureux/Desnoyers combo could make some damage
Rimouski - they'll be selling off what they're left with, did they promise Bolduc/Belliveau in trades?

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[WildWillie]

Hard to judge what direction a few teams will take. Sherbrooke & Chicoutimi are the hardest to judge because they will have a lot of good players left. The wise move for both would be to sell, but If they wanted to go for it again they could as well.

TOP TEAMS:
1) Saint John - I think SJ is the early favorite. They can contend without needing to add much in a weak eastern conference. Should take a big step forward next year.
2) Blainville-Boisbriand - agree with what OP said.
3) Val d'Or - Will be a strong team returning most players.
4) Quebec - Definitely a favorite in a east conference where most teams are rebuilding re-tooling. will need to add players but have the assets to do so.
5) Shawinigan - Will be hard for them to push past BLB and Vald'or but the 3 teams are all very close.


MIDDLE TEAMS:
6) Sherbrooke - They may be able to compete next year, but I think the smart move will be to sell and recoup assets at X-mas.
7) Charlottetown - loss of Alexandrov and Welsh will make it tough to be better than they were this year. need to make a few big acquisitions to join the top teams.
8) Chicoutimi - I think what they do will largely be determined by how healthy Lapierre is and if they can build re-tool the team around him.
9) Rouyn - agree with what OP said. always draft and recruit well. Can win without tearing down
10) Victoriaville - agree with what OP said
11) Baie-Comeau - agree with what OP said. Should have similar results as this year. May sell at Xmas.
12) Bathurst - agree with what OP said.
13) Gatineau - agree with what OP said. Returning most players. Will be very talented but very young.

REBUILDING TEAMS:
14) Drummondville - Imagine they continue to sell and re-tool
15) Cape Breton - Will sell off and start year 0 of full rebuild
16) Moncton - Will sell off and start year 0 of full rebuild
17) Rimouski - Will sell off and start year 0 of full rebuild
18) Halifax - starting year 1 of rebuild

 

[Number 57]

I agree Saint John could be an early favourite. They have the potential to attract big names who are considering USA route and they already have a great young improving roster. The only question mark is in net.

Chicoutimi and Sherbrooke will depend if they have to give back players this summer to follow up on same deadline trades. Sherbrooke didn't do much shopping so I think they'll keep their players. Chicoutimi added a lot but did give up a ton of picks as well as Rochette and Dufour, so I think they're done as well. They both could still be dominant with players such as Mercer, Shank, Knyazev, Lapierre, Hlavaj, Poulin, Tardif, Parent, Peach, Guay, etc returning for those 2 teams.

I think Shawinigan should give SJ a run for their money. I love their new goalie tandem and up front they have so much firepower now with a potential top-9 of Bourque, Ponomarev, Bourgault, Denis, Martin, Beaudoin, Cormier, Veillette, Nadeau. Defense isn't too bad either. They also have a spot open for a new import

 

[SergeConstantin74]

I doubt Roy hurts what he has been building. He set the team towards the 2021-2022 and 2022-2023 seasons. Quebec will still have a young team next season. I don't see them higher than middle of the pack.

 

[Number 57]

I doubt Roy hurts what he has been building. He set the team towards the 2021-2022 and 2022-2023 seasons. Quebec will still have a young team next season. I don't see them higher than middle of the pack.

They'll have a young team which usually means that they won't compete for the Cup, but I think Roy will make sure to bring in a few veterans this summer in order to give the kids a lot of experience.

They have one open slot for a 20 years old and maybe two (if Holmes isnt back) they will also bring in two import players to replace Sergeev and Sato. Roy could be able to draft a star player from Europe which would help the team tremendously.

Goaltending could be a problem as I don't see Despatie being ready for full-time duty just yet. Roy will need to acquire a veteran here.

I think Rochette will be ready to take over the league next year. Will it be enough? Probably not but I think the Remparts should finish around 5th or 6th in the league and like you said, they will be dominant the following seasons

 

[WildWillie]

I agree Saint John could be an early favourite. They have the potential to attract big names who are considering USA route and they already have a great young improving roster. The only question mark is in net.

Chicoutimi and Sherbrooke will depend if they have to give back players this summer to follow up on same deadline trades. Sherbrooke didn't do much shopping so I think they'll keep their players. Chicoutimi added a lot but did give up a ton of picks as well as Rochette and Dufour, so I think they're done as well. They both could still be dominant with players such as Mercer, Shank, Knyazev, Lapierre, Hlavaj, Poulin, Tardif, Parent, Peach, Guay, etc returning for those 2 teams.

I think Shawinigan should give SJ a run for their money. I love their new goalie tandem and up front they have so much firepower now with a potential top-9 of Bourque, Ponomarev, Bourgault, Denis, Martin, Beaudoin, Cormier, Veillette, Nadeau. Defense isn't too bad either. They also have a spot open for a new import

Patenaude has a lot of potential for SJ. They have the assets to get a veteran at Xmas if he can't carry the load.

Chicoutimi & Sherbrooke could be good but it would be ill advised not to sell. Sherbrooke has 1 1st, 0 2nds 1 3rd the next 3 drafts. Chicoutimi has a 1st a 2nd and no 3rds. Would be a tough rebuild if they try to compete again next year.

I agree on Shawinigan. I see them as well as Vald'or and BLB as being fairly close.

 

[Number 57]

Patenaude has a lot of potential for SJ. They have the assets to get a veteran at Xmas if he can't carry the load.

Chicoutimi & Sherbrooke could be good but it would be ill advised not to sell. Sherbrooke has 1 1st, 0 2nds 1 3rd the next 3 drafts. Chicoutimi has a 1st a 2nd and no 3rds. Would be a tough rebuild if they try to compete again next year.

I agree on Shawinigan. I see them as well as Vald'or and BLB as being fairly close.

Chicoutimi was always supposed to be going for it in 2020-21 (next year) with Lapierre, Rochette, Knyazev and Shank. They rushed and decided to buy Mercer and Lavoie right now in a year where they are a ton of other contenders like Rimouski, Sherbrooke, Cape Breton and Moncton. They gave up Rochette and Dufour and a bunch of picks/prospects. It's a high risk situation and honestly, if they don't win this year AND don't go for it next year, Jean should be fired. They need to get 2 runs at it otherwise it's a failure in my opinion. They could even get bounced in round 2 right now because the East is so tough.

 

[WildWillie]

Chicoutimi was always supposed to be going for it in 2020-21 (next year) with Lapierre, Rochette, Knyazev and Shank. They rushed and decided to buy Mercer and Lavoie right now in a year where they are a ton of other contenders like Rimouski, Sherbrooke, Cape Breton and Moncton. They gave up Rochette and Dufour and a bunch of picks/prospects. It's a high risk situation and honestly, if they don't win this year AND don't go for it next year, Jean should be fired. They need to get 2 runs at it otherwise it's a failure in my opinion. They could even get bounced in round 2 right now because the East is so tough.

Completely agree. next year is wide open and they would have been far and away favorites if they would have been patient. They had a good team without adding and could have went a couple rounds in the playoffs while adding for next year.

 

[Number 57]

Chicoutimi barely has any depth left and no picks in 2020 or 2021. They're gonna be in real tough since they can't really buy anything and have an average roster past a couple of guys. They have too many overagers which means probably Ducharme and Marcotty are gone. So you're left with Houde, Mercer, Lapierre who may have injury problems, Kniazev, Boudrias, Crevier and Shank. They could also add a new import to replace Kotkov. Now with that said if they really wanna compete they would need to acquire at least 2 more top-6 forwards and more depth guys in case of injuries. The way I see it, it's not happening for Chicoutimi next year unless they get surpising contribution from rookies, nobody gets injured and they manage to make a big trade or two... I think Sherbrooke may have a better roster

 

[IHaveNoCreativity]

Malatesta, Rochette and Gaucher is a nice start. Quebec will likely add William Rousseau in the off season, will help their goaltending.

Saint John will be very strong.

 

[SergeConstantin74]

Chicoutimi barely has any depth left and no picks in 2020 or 2021. They're gonna be in real tough since they can't really buy anything and have an average roster past a couple of guys. They have too many overagers which means probably Ducharme and Marcotty are gone. So you're left with Houde, Mercer, Lapierre who may have injury problems, Kniazev, Boudrias, Crevier and Shank. They could also add a new import to replace Kotkov. Now with that said if they really wanna compete they would need to acquire at least 2 more top-6 forwards and more depth guys in case of injuries. The way I see it, it's not happening for Chicoutimi next year unless they get surpising contribution from rookies, nobody gets injured and they manage to make a big trade or two... I think Sherbrooke may have a better roster

Chicoutimi went for it because of Harvey-Pinard. I guess having the chance to add an impact local in the Dobson trade was too nice to pass up. If they don't add Harvey-Pinard but the 2 1st picks, they would have been set up for next year. Although, with Lapierre's concussions, you can't really count on him.

 

[jellybeans]

Still early of course but always fun to speculate

TOP TEAMS:
Blainville-Boisbriand - they have been improving this year and should get most of their players back next season
Charlottetown - the defense should be great and I believe the GM will make moves to improve the squad
Quebec - a young team on the rise, and I believe Roy doesn't want to lose anymore, he'll make moves
Saint John - there is no other way around it, the kids need to take the next step and start winning
Shawinigan - if they get better progression from their youth next year, should be near the top of the league
Sherbrooke - if Poulin is back, they still have enough remaining to compete (Hlavaj, Tardif, Parent, Guay, Peach)
Val d'Or - expected to be among the top teams, they have a ton of great young pieces

MIDDLE TEAMS:
Bathurst - they have a ton of young players so they are bound to improve a little.... somewhat
Baie-Comeau - Legare and Merisier-Ortiz will lead them until the deadline, some interesting youth
Chicoutimi - I think they'll have enough returning players to compete, might even go for it again
Gatineau - a team on the rise with 3 high first round picks in 2020
Rouyn - they have some good pieces, but I don't believe they'll be elite yet, might sell of Beaucage
Victoriaville - a few good acquisitions could elevate this team to the top

REBUILDING TEAMS:
Cape Breton - won't have much left perhaps only Francis, Lafrance, Ivan, Baker, McCormick, Grimard
Drummondville - could be up with the middle teams but selling Simoneau would hurt them a lot
Halifax - the rebuild continues
Moncton - they'll lose most of the roster but a Pelletier/L'Heureux/Desnoyers combo could make some damage
Rimouski - they'll be selling off what they're left with, did they promise Bolduc/Belliveau in trades?

Idon't think Chicoutimi will be a contender they traded away their future for this year plus all the elastic trades which will result in players going the other way to recover some of those picks i think they will be a middle of the pack team but no way a contender.And for Rouyn my home team they're going to be a rebuilding team, Beaucage i agree got to be dealt he will bring in a lot also

Arsenault

[TBODY] [/TBODY]

should be dealt he probably will be one of the top def in the league and would also bring back a lot, they should make the playoffs but it wont be easy.