QuebecPride
Registered User
To justify this pick I am hearing that he is skilled, but didn't had the opportunity to perform on his team and/or things simply didn't clicked for him this season; he had 7G-7A PP points which is 3rd highest forward on his team, he did have the ice time. And to me, his previous numbers don't indicate in any way that he is a better player than his current numbers indicate. His QMAAA numbers were pretty poor if you compare them to the other players drafted from the Q in the draft, even compared to the other forward from the Q drafted below him in Mathias Laferrière who tear up the league in the playoff, on top of being slightly taller and younger, and I am not even high on Laferriere whatsoever.
As stated by others, heavily doubt he was the BPA, same player but in the WHL not called Houde, no way he gets drafted by us in the 5th or at any other selection for that matter IMO.
Him and Brett Stapley, can someone tell me what they project at exactly at the NHL level if things go well, because I simply can't see it.
If they absolutely wanted to please the fans with a Q player, they easily could have went with Bouchard there, he actually was a good value pick at that position IMO, but also according to the list of most scouting agencies.
Personally, I just think he has not turned on the extra gear. I'm hoping for a big breakthrough season offensively. I don't think it was due to a lack of ice time that his production was lack-luster, but rather that he has not developed as fast as people expected. Clearly, we bought the kid at a "low" price, we'll see if the price was justified in a few years.
I've got to admit though that after getting the confirmation from HockeyProspect's Jérome Bérubé that Houde was not even on their list, I'm getting a tad worried about the kid. In my opinion he's one of the best 'Q scout scout that publicly publishes his reports.
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