While we don’t know when the 2020 NHL Entry Draft will be taking place, the Canadian junior leagues have been proceeding with their drafts. The OHL and WHL have already done theirs and on Friday, the QMJHL began their 2020 draft (which featured a notable prospect on the move). These players won’t be eligible for the NHL draft until 2022 but some of them will quickly become candidates for an early draft slot in that particular NHL draft class. Here are the results from the first round.
1) Gatineau – D Tristan Luneau
2) Gatineau – LW Antonin Verreault
3) Saint John – C Leighton Carruthers
4) Gatineau – C Samuel Savoie
5) Quebec – D Evan Nause
6) Val-d’Or – G Vincent Fillion
7) Victoriaville – D Pier-Olivier Roy
8) Gatineau – D Noah Warren
9) Shawinigan – D Michael Mastrodomenico
10) Blainville-Boisbriand – C Jonathan Fauchon
11) Drummondville – C Luke Woodworth
12) Drummondville – D Maveric Lamoureux
13) Moncton – C Yoan Loshing
14) Halifax – C Marcus Vidicek
15) Saint John – D Nathan Drapeau
16) Acadie-Bathurst – D Lane Hinkley
17) Cape Breton – G Nicolas Ruccia
18) Halifax – RW Jordan Dumais
19) Victoriaville – LW Nathan Morin
20) Rouyn-Noranda – D Dyllan Gill
Luneau, the top pick, previously committed to play for Wisconsin. However, he told Jean-Francois Plante of Le Droit (Twitter link) that he has already de-committed from the Badgers and signed his contract. As soon as he plays a single game in the QMJHL, he forfeits his NCAA eligibility. And if you’re wondering if a team ever had three of the top four picks before, that’s a first in league history and probably won’t happen again for quite some time.
The rest of the 2020 QMJHL draft will run on Saturday with rounds two through fourteen.