The (Assumed) Path to Major Junior...from the States

So, where we live, from a Major Junior perspective, we belong to the QMJHL.

Their recruiting territory includes Quebec and eastward, plus all of New England.

For those geographically challenged, the QMJHL is your major junior option if your player lives in one of these provinces or states: Quebec, New Brunswick, Prince Edward Island, Nova Scotia, Newfoundland (and Labrador -- one of my buddies insists they be listed separately), Maine, New Hampshire, Vermont, Massachusetts, Connecticut, and Rhode Island.

Each year, a couple kids in our hockey circle get picked in the "American" draft...and one thing they've all had in common...Canadian parents...meaning they're likely dual citizens.

None of them have played a game (or even reported) to the QMJHL team that selected them, though.

As my oldest son gets closer to "draft" age, we're seeing more and more familiar names.

Like, in the 2023 QMJHL Draft, there were 4 players selected from Mid-Fairfield (one of the strongest programs in the country). My kid had played with or against three of them in various tournaments or Spring leagues.

Looking up those players individual stats -- none of them were really the statistical studs of their teams...so how were they selected?

Not for a moment discounting their talent -- their entire team is high level -- but why wasn't the Connecticut based kid averaging 2-3 points per game selected?

I could guess it's because he's a selfish puck hog or whatever...but usually those kids are weeded out of high-end hockey at the midget level.

My best guess is that the kids that do get selected -- and statistically appear as middle of pack players -- sometime, somewhere, expressed interest in playing in the QMJHL.

Why else would a QMJHL team "pick" them?

I don't have that answer...but can say that since the QMJHL added the "American" draft in 2018, just one player has played in a QMJHL game.

Joe Fleming.

He was a 2003 birth year and drafted in the QMJHL American draft in 2019 by Gatineau.

He played 63 games for the Sherbrooke Phoenix in 2022-23...after first going through the NCDC, EHF, and USHL...so, my assumption is, back in 2019, he didn't bother reporting either and only went the major junior route when it became a more attractive option than maintaining his NCAA eligibility.

And a quick google of his history nearly confirms that -- he didn't go to the Q in 2019.

In 2021, he was selected in the USHL draft by Cedar Rapids, committed to Northeastern University, and went down the USHL path...but was invited to an NHL prospect camp in 2022 and signed a 3 year contract with the Vegas Golden Knights...which made him a pro (NCAA eligibility disappeared at that point)...and that led him back to the Q for another year (or two) of seasoning.

So, while he WAS drafted in the QMJHL American draft...and DID play in the QMJHL...he doesn't really count.

Outside of him and his unorthodox path, not a single player selected in the "supplementary" "American draft has ever played a QMJHL game.

So, every June, teams around here boast that so-and-so was a 1st round pick and, while that's true in a sense, I think an asterisk should be added. Or some fine print.

It feels odd when the kid with 4 assists over the course of an entire season is "tagged" as a first-round pick.

Marketing is deceptive that way... I'm in the field...I get it...and also see right through it.

Teams are able to, and do, select American based players in their regular draft -- the "American" draft is kinda like some weird after thought.

With that -- I'm not really even sure why the American draft exists when there hasn't been a US-based team in the QMJHL since the Lewiston Maine-iacs folded over a dozen years ago. There is no USA-based footprint. There isn't any need, marketing wise, to force the drafting of "local" kids. Not one of the teams is local to a New England state.

Where am I going with this? What is my plan for my sons?

Honestly, I'd like MY kid, and his single digit point total each season, to be that first round pick in the American draft that his team could boast about on social media in June of 2025.

I'm not joking either.

So how do we get there?

I'm not entirely sure but first, at this point (two years early), it's all about exposure.

He needs to play for a team that will market him, you know, put out the feelers for the QMJHL Central Scouting to get him on the list.

Outside of Quebec and maybe a slice of New Brunswick, I can't imagine the Q has a ton of scouts identifying talent. The QMJHL does not have a US-based scout, officially. They have a US Coordinator covering all of New England and, sometimes, that's enough.

Like, I know the names of all of the top 2009 players from New Jersey up to Maine. I'm not a scout...and I don't know where they're all playing next season, but I recognize the names. That's one of the things we discuss in the car after every single game -- who were their top players? Comes in super handy for next time.

To be "noticed", your player's name needs to find its way on to a specific guy's list.

For instance, we were at the CCM Blue Chip a few weeks ago and an opposing coach we'd played against years prior with a completely different team and in a different league very clearly knew who my kid was as he's jumping up and down, pointing, and barking out from the bench -- "82! 82! He's going for a skate!" -- as he's trying to get their forecheck in motion.

My kid isn't the best on his team -- not by any stretch -- but that coach recalled the name or the number and knew my kid (now in a completely different uniform playing out of a different state) coming out from behind his own net with a full head of steam is something you want to limit.

Don't let 82 go for a skate.

And that's all it is, getting that name recognition -- exposure!

Get your player's name on that list of knowns -- whether a scout will ever fully evaluate them or not.

Name recognition is so, so important.

Playing for one team or one coach all through youth hockey is a terrible idea. Outside of that one program or coach...no one knows who you are. I wouldn't say playing somewhere new every season is a great path either...but definitely change things up for off-season tournament teams or private lessons.

Get your name out there yourself, everywhere, at the youth levels...then let the coaches do some of the heavy lifting when the kids are teenagers -- selling the reputation you've already built. A simple "I've seen that name before" can open so many doors.

In hockey, connections are everything.

I'm certain I've said that repeatedly in these postings. Recurring theme...

I'll tell you right now -- I highly doubt the kids we know that have been selected were "truly" scouted. Rather, they were marketed.

They got their name on a central scouting list, someone within the QMJHL teams did their due diligence and looked them up on EliteProspects, maybe reached out to their coach, maybe even watched a highlight reel, and then supported their team to "use" a pick on them in the near meaningless American draft.

I mean, the QMJHL published the final Scouting Central list in May with 568 players on it.

If you're really interested, the Americans start on page 12. Yep...12 pages in. That should be humbling.

An asterisk next to their height and/or weight indicates that they were measured by central scouting. Most of the American based players were not. Not really surprising -- they weren't actively being scouted.

But exposure is everything. Someone has to help you get your player's name inserted on that list.

So, for exposure, we've steered towards a program that has a known track record and a recent history of moving kids upward and onward. Our end goal is not high school hockey.

In Connecticut, where we live, you're not permitted to play scholastic and club concurrently. Ridiculous, I know...but it is what it is. It isn't unheard of for full season teams to fold when the high school hockey season starts as kids and families choose to go that route.

We're not playing high school.

And we don't want to play for a club that evaporates when December rolls around.

Full season, good track record, coaches with connections at higher levels, and kids that have been selected in the QMJHL American draft.

For the non-Prep school kids (another avenue we're not actively pursuing), the U15 year is the one that matters.

We found that in Springfield, Massachusetts -- step one, complete.

Step two falls entirely on the player. They have to get better, year-over-year.

My oldest son has been on that path. Played up a birth year for 5 seasons and was always a step behind.

One minor hiccup during his peewee years -- a coach so awful it's almost hard to imagine it was real -- but since then he's been reeling in players purportedly better than him at a rapid pace.

And that's the thing for parents with younger kids -- you do not want your son or daughter to be "the" stud when they're a mite, squirt, or peewee.

You might think you do...but you don't.

What you truly want is a player that gets better and better...and keeps getting better. At 14. At 15. At 16.

That's when the opportunities really open up.

So if you feel like your kid had a bad season...just evaluate if they're a better player overall in March than they were in September. If they are, you have nothing to worry about.

Take Joe Fleming, for example. I understand that he's a defenseman but he's never, statistically, been the star of his own team...besides PIMs in his one season in the USHL. PIMs don't usually lead to an NHL contract these days.

His top season, he scored 5 goals. Five.

It's not always about stats, folks...

My bet?

He's continually gotten better and better and better, season over season.

The Vegas Golden Knights clearly believe that trend will continue.

Keep stats on your kids...for the trend line. Not to boast about the actual numbers.

The best players -- in the long run -- aren't the ones scoring 100 goals as squirts.

At that rate, the trend can only go downward. Think long term.

If my kid continues to improve, earns the trust of the coaching staff, and makes his intentions clear...getting his name on a line on that QMJHL Scouting List in the next 2 years is not an insurmountable task.

Now, the major drawback for going major junior route for many US-based hockey players (that aren't sure fire NHL prospects as teenagers) is that you sacrifice your NCAA eligibility by playing.

I don't want to sacrifice that...yet.

But I'm not opposed to it, either.

My son is a dual citizen so he can attend a Canadian university at a low cost...and get the league to help pay for it...and play hockey there too.

That's not really the plan and it's up to him where he wants to go, obviously, but it is a safety net. And an attractive one too.

Or, having sacrificed his NCAA eligibility, he can play club level at an American university since, as I learned quickly, you either go to university to play a sport...or as a student.

You don't get it both ways.

I quit my athletic endeavors on day two of University when told I'd need to change my major/discipline if I intended to compete in inter-University competition. I went to school to get a degree...not to play sports...

Going as a student first is the wiser, long term, choice for 99% of athletes.

But, even if this weren't about getting noticed by QMJHL Central scouting, you too should make "exposure" your top priority.

Look, most of those American kids that get selected but never report end up playing in US-based junior leagues instead. USHL and NAHL being the top of the heap and plenty filling out the NA3HL and EHL and so on.

Some kids go on to play Junior A or Junior B in Canada -- the BCHL is overflowing with NCAA recruits. Definitely a strong option.

For all of those leagues, though, exposure as a 15 and 16 year old is essential in getting there!

Regarding the small number of kids from the US that go the major junior route -- I can affirm that kids in the States are steered away from playing major junior in Canada...with sacrificing your NCAA eligibility being the primary scare tactic.

I can understand that, I suppose, but even playing D3 is a tall task.

I know your inner ego might be thinking D3 is a gimme...but it isn't.

Don't believe the NCSA hype. You are not a shoe-in.

It's hard to play at a D3 school. Even one you've never even heard of.

Sheesh -- it's not even easy to make an NA3HL team and you can read all over the place on the internet that that league is a total joke. And even if you land there and people call you a bender -- just be the best in the league. Being among the best in any league is better than just being a warm body in a higher league.

The results of the NHL Entry draft are proof of that -- NHL teams seek the best players. Not the best players from the top league. The best players from every league.

Further, going back on what I said earlier -- when you go to university, it should be for the education...and not the hockey team.

If you're smart enough to go to Yale...you go to Yale...regardless of whether you're a D1 hockey player.

School first, hockey second.

I often wonder how many kids go to D3 schools you've never heard of just to play hockey for a few more years because they have their priorities backwards.

I suppose the NCSA is to blame for that. (The NCSA is an organization that acts like an agent on behalf of your athlete for college recruitment purposes.)

The alternative is seeking out a spot on a major junior team -- keeping school and athletics completely separate from one another.

That's no small task either...but if you do latch on, you're going to be playing alongside and against bonafide NHL prospects.

And when it ends for you, you can go to university...as a student...and as one hell of a hockey player with tons of options.

Play in the low minors, head overseas, you can do whatever you like and still come out ahead of those guys that "held on" to their NCAA eligibility for athletic reasons.

We're not there yet in our house...but we're on the path!

» 2024 Update: Exposure Matters if you want to be Scouted - valuable, up-to-date, information on how to get your player's name on an eligible player list for the QMJHL draft.

Agree? Disagree? Let me know -- I love the feedback from all angles!

Chris Rutsch

Hockey Dad

Year round, I spend a significant amount of time and money transporting my three boys to and from freezing cold ice rinks. Not because I expect them to make it to the NHL but because I know the rigorous youth hockey experience will serve them well in the future.