Oshawa Generals, Baie-Comeau Drakkar charge up standings: CHL Hot & Cold

Philippe Cadorette is at the fulcrum of the endless push and pull between performance and process.

Last weekend, the undrafted 19-year-old was the victor twice over as his Baie-Comeau Drakkar took all four points from the Rimouski Océanic and Philippe Desrosiers, one of the goalies whom Hockey Canada had its summer development camp. Drakkar GM Steve Ahern, rather than downplay it, took the opportunity to inveigh about talent evaluators for the national junior team overlooking his guy in favour of goalies who have been anointed by one of the 30 NHL teams.

Cadorette, after helping the Drakkar go to the Quebec League final in successive springs, has a 2.45 average and .921 save percentage so far this season and has helped the Drakkar surge toward the top of a tough division. His play is doing the talking.

Here is the weekly look at who is flowing and who is ebbing across major junior hockey.

OHL

Hot: Oshawa Generals

This is what can prevail when a team is fresh off of producing a good season with a youngish roster. Oshawa (9-1-1-0) has burst out of the gate by winning nine of its first 11 games, including a win over powerhouse Sault Ste. Marie on Sunday. Five of the Gens recorded at least five points during their four-game week, including Vancouver Canucks-signed captain Cole Cassels with nine and New York Islanders top pick Michael Dal Colle with seven.

Meantime, it's not as if anyone impugned goalie Ken Appleby's capabilities coming into the season; it was just fair game to point out that the 6-foot-5 'tender had never been a No. 1 starter. Oshawa's only two losses so far have come in rookie Jeremy Brodeur's starts.

Oshawa's estimated PDO (combined shooting and save percentage) is 104.8, which makes their trip to up to North Bay on Thursday intriguing beyond the fact it will be a rematch of last spring's Eastern final. The Battalion's 96.46 PDO indicates they have been a hard-luck bunch during a 4-1-3-0 start.

Not: Peterborough Petes

The Petes, blessed with Anaheim Ducks first-rounder Nick Ritchie, have been stuck in neutral during six-game winless skid (three outright losses, three regulation ties). Last Saturday's matchup was catered to them, with a day off prior to playing a banged-up Plymouth Whalers team that was starting No. 2 goalie Zack Bowman. Naturally, Bowman made 45 saves over 65 minutes and the Whalers nabbed the shootout win.

That marked the third time in four games that Ritchie and the Petes (.312 point pct., eighth in the Eastern Conference) came away without a full result despite an edge on shots on goal. Their fortunes should take an upswing soon, especially with their core of 16- and 17-year-olds with relatively high ceilings, such as speedy rookie Jonathan Ang. That includes the goalies Dylan Wells and Scott Smith, although running with two rookie goalies is chancy. The Petes get a chance to turn it around with a Saginaw-Sudbury-Sault Ste. Marie week, with the first leg at home.

Canadian NHL team prospects

Hunter Smith, Oshawa (No. 54 by Calgary Flames in '14) — Smith's work on his acceleration came to the fore on the second goal of his hat trick on Sunday vs. Sault Ste. Marie, as the 6-foot-7 wing helped clear the zone to set up Cassels and then jumped into the rush to slap in an easy goal. As for his first one that night, pity the poor defencemen who have try to clear 'The Big Rig' from the crease.

Cassels was named CHL player of the week just as I finished this compilation, so it would be kind of redundant to highlight him.

Tobias Lindberg, Oshawa (No. 102 by Ottawa Senators in '14) — The power winger is getting the hang of this North American ice deal. Lindberg had seven points over those four Generals wins last week.

Jordan Subban, Belleville (No. 115 by Vancouver in '13) — Subban's six-over-three week gives him 12 points in his first 10 games since rejoining the Bulls, who are off to a stronger start than perhaps anticipated. The Bulls have been in a few high-shot, high-chance games, which means a speedy defenceman can really cash in. Observe:

Miles Liberati, North Bay (No. 195 by Vancouver in '13) — Freelancing opportunities can be rare in the Battalion's structured system. However, Liberati showed his flair for the sweet play with an unassisted goal during a rivalry game with Sault Ste. Marie. The seventh-rounder has had three points in his past four games from his defence spot.

QMJHL

Hot: Baie-Comeau Drakkar

Back in the day on Saturday Night Live, the late great Phil Hartman was called 'the glue'; the same no-further-explanation-needed nickname could be stuck to Cadorette. The third-year starter is once again helping a perhaps otherwise statistically unremarkable Drakkar team shine during its five-game win streak, that includes blanking Quebec, blanking Rimouski and a 40-save effort from Cadorette during a shootout win over the Océanic in the road leg of a home-and-home.

The Drakkar have also avoided a drop-off after back-to-back berths in the league final due to being pulled up by the overage trio of Maxime St-Cyr, ex-Halifax Moosehead Luca Ciampini and Frédéric Gamelin, who are their three leading scorers. It's questionable whether St-Cyr, who has 12 goals (including nine on the power play) through 14 games, can maintain his pace, what with his shooting percentage being nearly 20%. However, it's a great start from a team that one might have assumed was due for a step back.

Not: Shawinigan Cataractes

Coach Martin Bernard's gang has run into growing pains, taking a five-game losing skid into the week after initially having a promising start. Even in their third season removed from being the Memorial Cup host team, the Cataractes are still secreting their identity, with no captain named yet and 10 players who are less than 18 years old in the lineup, including standouts Anthony Beauvillier and Dennis Yan. Shawinigan did win the final period on Sunday vs. Victoriaville, so it is showing signs of life.

Canadian NHL team prospects

Nikolaj Ehlers, Halifax (No. 9 by Winnipeg in '14) — The slippery one is getting back into his groove, as evidenced by a two-goal, one-assist effort during the front end of a Halifax home-and-home with Cape Breton. One nugget with Ehlers is he had five minor penalties across the Mooseheads' two games with the Screaming Eagles, which feeds a narrative about the 18-year-old star needing to rise about the chippiness which tends to crop up in the Q.

Francis Perron, Rouyn-Noranda (No. 190 by Ottawa in '14) — Perron broke a four-game goal drought on Sunday. The slightly built 18-year-old left wing has 14 points over 11 games and has helped his Huskies win five in a row. Hey, how come they're not the Hot team? What's the big idea?

WHL

Hot: Edmonton Oil Kings

To think, the Oil Kings have historically not been quick out of the blocks, which is part due to (a) they were a bad expansion team for their first few seasons and (b) they were often short-staffed by NHL training camp in the past few years. They are a franchise-best 7-3-0-0, having retained a lot of the Memorial Cup-winning supporting cast while replenishing with the likes of funky-shooting Andrew Koep (team-high five goals).

Arizona Coyotes late-rounder Edgars Kulda had six points across the four Edmonton wins last week. Having the Memorial Cup MVP return as a two-spotter seems almost unfair.

Not: Seattle Thunderbirds

The 'Birds come into the week trending in the wrong direction, with a four-game winless skid and no home wins in their first five fixtures on home ice. The draft-year dynamos, Mathew Barzal (12 points in 11 games) and Ryan Gropp (10 in 11) are producing, but the complementary scoring has been AWOL. The upside is that Seattle turned in stronger first periods in each of its final two outings of last week, where it lost 5-4 in overtime to potent Kamloops and were stymied by Prince George's Ty Edmonds.

Seattle doesn't play a game outside its home state until Nov. 7, so there's a lot of time to adjust to the absence of offensive defenceman Shea Theodore.

Canadian NHL team prospects

Morgan Klimchuk, Regina (No. 28 by Calgary in '13) — The 19-year-old wing was injured in September, but returned to score a goal in each of his first two outings with the Pats last weekend. Klimchuk, as you know, could have a new port of call by January since Regina's focus is said to be on building around 16-year-old Sam Steel.

Jackson Houck, Vancouver (No. 94 by Edmonton in '13) — Houck had a three-goal, two-assist game in a Giants rout of Prince George, so his week might have been better than yours. Twelve of his 13 points have been clustered in four games, so he's been a bit feast-or-famine.

Nic Petan and Chase De Leo, Portland (No. 43 in '13 and No. 99 in '14 by Winnipeg) — Portland is unaccustomed to looking up at anyone in the standings. The first two games of their current eastern swing illustrated that; Petan had a three-assist night (including two primaries) in a pasting at Moose Jaw. The next night, De Leo had his first two-goal game of the year, but it came while the Winterhawks were losing by a touchdown to the Brandon Wheat Kings.

De Leo has 12 points in his first 10 games, which is a decent start considering that he and Petan divvy up the prime playmaking opportunities.

Neate Sager is a writer for Yahoo! Canada Sports. Follow him on Twitter @neatebuzzthenet.