The Gatineau Olympiques Are Set To Become a Potential Dynasty in the QMJHL

The Gatineau Olympiques are going to be one of, if not, the most exciting team to watch in the Q next fall, if the season were to go as planned. They have a mix of young talent who are set to become stars in the Q and will make an immediate impact for the team as soon as next season. 

How They Got to This Point: 

Since the 2015-16 QMJHL season, the Gatineau Olympiques have been falling down the standings. They were good in the 16-17 and 17-18 seasons, but it was clear that they should probably enter the rebuilding stage. And that’s what they did. They offloaded the veterans and were preparing for the future by accumulating high end draft picks and doing well in the draft. The 18-19 season was finally the year that they said that we should and will commit to a full rebuild. They finished 4th last in the QMJHL in 18-19 and 3rd last in 19-20. In 2018-19, they had 2 first round picks. And in this year's draft, they would have 4. They would do very well in this area and is one of the main reasons that the Olympiques could be a potential dynasty in a few years. 

Who They Picked: 

In the 2019 QMJHL draft, Gatineau selected highly skilled forward Zach Dean 4th overall from the Toronto Young Nationals. Zach is a highly skilled center who will be the number 1 center in this rejuvenation of Olympiques and had a really good statistical year this year. In 57 games, he had 18 goals, 28 assists for 46 points. With the 13th pick in the 2019 QMJHL draft, the Olympiques selected Olivier Boutin from the Levis Chevaliers in the QMAAA. Olivier is a 5’10 161lb defender who posted 9 points in 53 games. Obviously the point total isn’t great for a defender in a high scoring league like the Q, but he did only have a -2 rating on a pretty weak team. Boutin is expected to be given a bigger role as he gets older, and could become an important leader and calming presence on that blueline in years to come. Now this is where the fun really starts. Gatineau had 4 first round picks in the 2020 draft of teams that were supposed to be bad. They had their own pick, Halifax’s pick, Acadie Bathurst pick and Valdor’s pick. They had to trade up 5 spots from 13 to 8 at the 2020 draft, but that could be a smart decision later. Since Gatineau had the 4 first round picks of teams that would be bad, they ended up having the 1st overall pick, 2nd overall pick, the 4th overall pick, and the 8th overall pick. With the first pick, the Olympqiues selected Tristan Luneau of the Trois-Rivieres Estacades of the QMAAA. This is where they got their number 1 defenceman of the future. Luneau is a 2way defender who can skate really well. He makes smart choices and says he resembles his game after Drew Doughty. Luneau could make his way into the top 4 for Gatineau as soon as next year. With the 2nd pick, Gatineau picked 5’7 150lb forward Antonin Verreault from the Saint-Eustache Vikings of the QMAAA. Although Verreault is very much undersized like Cole Caufield, Verreault is a dynamic forward who can skate well and make high end plays. He compares his game to Johnny Gaudreau and will be a perfect match for Zach Dean on the powerplay and hopefully the 1st line in a few seasons. With Gatineau’s 4th pick, they selected centerman Samuel Savoie from the Moncton Rallye of the NBPEIMMHL. Savoie will be a perfect number 2 centerman behind Dean. He’ll be a force on the powerplay with guys like Luneau, Dean, Verreault, etc. The last guy that they picked in the first round of the 2020 QMJHL draft is Noah Warren from the College Charles-Lemoyne Riverains of the QMAAA. Warren is a huge right shot 6’4 205lb defender that can be a force on the blueline when needed, and could maybe be a player that the Olympiques use on the penalty kill. 

Trade Market: 

On June 6th 2020, the Olympiques made a trade with the Quebec Remparts to acquire 6’1 goaltender Emerick Despatie. Emerick is 17 years old and will be a force in net in the Q for years to come. Although he didn’t have the greatest numbers last year, he will have guys like Boutin, Luneau and Warren to help him relieve pressure off him so that he can bounce back and perform like a star goalie. 

Draft capitol: 

Gatineau does have their first round pick in both 2021 and 2022, as well as Sherbrookes first round pick in 2022. It’s kind of too early to tell if Sherbrooke will still have Samuel Poulin in 2021-22, but if they don’t, Gatineau will be jumping up in the air. Poulin is the Phoenix’s best player, and losing him will hurt them a lot. Since Gatineau will most likely be good in 2 years, they could potentially use that first round pick to maybe acquire a guy like Hendrix Lapierre (if he resolves his health issues). Imagine Lapierre on this team. They’d be so nasty and would definitely be in the running for a Memorial Cup. All in all, Gatineau should definitely use there picks wisely whenever they think it’s right, because this will be an incredible team in a couple years.  

My Expectations: 

My expectations for this team are very high, as they should. They should make the playoffs next year and hopefully make some noise. This should help them gain some valuable experience for when they make a push for the Memorial Cup. I expect that they will win at least one QMJHL title and one Memorial Cup. Obviously that will be tough with teams like Prince George in the WHL who also have a tremendous young core with guys like Heidt and Dowhaniuk, but I do honestly believe that these players on this Olympiques team will eventually find a way to do it. I’m cheering for them really hard because I know that this much young talent on one team is rare, and I want them to all succeed together. 

By: Luka Tkalcevic (Instagram: luka_tkalcevic, futurehockeystars)