(Montreal) Defender Tomas Lavoie was selected by the Cape Breton Eagles first overall in the QMJHL Draft on Monday night.
Posted at 7:17 p.m.
Lavoie, who played last season with the Esther-Blondin College Phénix, was seen as the best prospect for the QMJHL Recruiting Support Center (RSC).
Standing six-foot-three and weighing 190 pounds, the right-hander has seven goals and 21 points in 36 games this season and six points in as many playoff games.
Lavoie became the second defenseman in three years to be selected in the first echelon of the repechage, after Tristan Luneau of the Gatineau Olympiques.
Some observers have compared Lavoie’s style of play to that of New York Islanders defenseman Noah Dobson. Many have noted his very good skating, his skills with the puck and his offensive instincts.
The Eagles, the worst team on the Courteau circuit in 2021-22, held the first overall pick for the third time in their history. In 2004, they had set their sights on James Sheppard while in 2013, they had chosen Nicolas Roy. Roy, however, refused to report to Cape Breton and was traded to the Chicoutimi Saguenéens before the season.
In second place, the Victoriaville Tigres drafted Saint-Hyacinthe Gaulois goaltender Gabriel D’Aigle.
D’Aigle, who is six-foot-three and weighs 191 pounds, was trying to become the second goaltender in QMJHL history to be selected first overall in the draft and the first since Maxime Daigneault in 2000.
D’Aigle was CSR’s second-best prospect and the first goaltender to be selected second since Roberto Luongo in 1995.
The Saguenéens, who have four picks in the first round, have selected Notre-Dame College Albatross forward Maxim Massé in the third echelon.
Massé, who is seen as a future power forward, finished last season with 26 goals and 43 points in 40 games. The six-foot-one, 166-pound winger has added three goals in five playoff games.