QMJHL east division preview: Does Quebec have what it takes to win it all?

Yahoo’s Buzzing the Net will preview the upcoming 2014-15 QMJHL season, going division by division and asking the biggest question of each team. Here is the East Division preview. The West preview is available here, and Maritime Division preview will follow. The season opens on Wednesday with the Val-d’Or Foreurs hosting the Rouyn-Noranda Huskies.

Teams here are listed in predicted order of finish, from first to last.

Quebec Remparts – 2013-14 record: 39-17-5-7 for 90 points; Division finish: 3rd; Result: Lost to Rouyn-Noranda in the first round;

Can the Remparts enter the 2015 Memorial Cup in the front door?

They certainly have to be the favourite. Director of Hockey Operations Philippe Boucher did his homework in the off-season, getting blueliners Nik Brouillard, Ryan Graves and Simon Boudreau and forwards Taylor Burke and Marc-Olivier Roy. They were bold moves. They were Patrick Roy-like moves, and Boucher is going for it, as he should be.

The forwards add to a deep scoring crew led by Anthony Duclair and Adam Erne, and the defensive moves shore up a weakness. This is the deepest and strongest team in the QMJHL on paper, and might dominate from start to finish.

The only questions are in goal, where Boucher traded overager François Brassard to the Cape Breton Screaming Eagles, and acquired Eric Brassard. It’s a downgrade, but Callum Booth may be ready for the big time as a 17-year-old. If not, a goaltender should be the last piece of the puzzle.

Rimouski Oceanic – 2013-14 record: 45-16-3-4 for 86 points; Division finish: 2nd; Result: Lost to Blainville-Boisbriand in second round;

Can the Oceanic topple Quebec and win the division?

No, but they will be a solid number two. There are a distinct lack of strong teams in the QMJHL this season, mostly because of Rimouski and Quebec. The Oceanic built for this season and it shows with homegrown talent like Anthony DeLuca, Frédérik Gauthier, Samuel Morin and Philippe Desrosiers. They bolstered their forward ranks by trading for Vincent Dunn and Christopher Clapperton.

The consolation prize for Rimouski in that scenario is that they could easily be the second-best team in the QMJHL, and still not win in their division, or what nearly happened last year. It will make the seven games they play in the regular season very heated and some of the best hockey of the year. If they meet in the playoffs, it could be a clash for the ages.

The Oceanic will be very, very good. An excellent team; just not enough to catch Quebec.

Chicoutimi Saguenéens – 2013-14 record: 27-40-1-0 for 55 points; Division finish: 5th; Result: Lost to Rimouski in the first round;

Can the Saguenéens sneak into the top-two in the division?

It’s possible. They have a lot of firepower up front, with the additions of Samuel Hodhod, Gabryel Paquin-Boudreau and Alexandre Ranger to Laurent Dauphin and Janne Puhakka. Nicolas Roy has settled into the league and will look to take a big step forward in his second season.

The back end is deep, but lacking in a no. 1 or even a no. 2 defenceman. Sophomore Frédéric Allard could be the best of the bunch, while Samuel Roussy, Nikita Liamkin and Alexandre Leclerc are capable, and the acquisition of Brian Lovell is a good depth move, but there’s no one here who scares you.

In goal, it’s a make or break season for Julio Billia, who had an impressive rookie season and followed it up with a mediocre 2013-14. He will need to be better and carry the D. If the Sags can outscore most of their opponents, they should be alright.

Baie-Comeau Drakkar – 2013-14 record: 47-16-2-3 for 99 points; Division finish: 1st; Result: Lost to Val-d’Or in league final;

Do the Drakkar have the personnel to make one last run?

They have the makings of a team that could finish in the top half of the league. Valentin Zykov, Maxime St-Cyr, Frédéric Gamelin and Jérémy Grégoire are back to lead the offence, along with overager Luca Ciampini. Alexis Vanier will lead the D, along with sophomore Nicolas Meloche and Philippe Cadorette is back in goal.

All their depth, though, has been replaced by 16- and 17-year-olds. Which is fine if you’re retooling, which the Drakkar are. They could be a good wildcard, depending on how the kids play, but they could also bomb out and rely on two lines for all the dirty work. New head coach Marco Pietroniro will have his work cut out for him in the teaching department.

Victoriaville Tigres – 2013-14 record: 33-27-5-3 for 74 points; Division finish: 4th; Result: Lost to Drummondville in first round;

How will the Yanick Jean-Bruce Richardson dynamic work out?

In case you missed it, the Tigres made a couple of bold moves in the summer time. After a five game loss to Drummondville in the first round of last year’s playoffs, the team fired head coach Yanick Jean. In the end of May, the team hired Bruce Richardson, a touted Midget coach in Quebec, to be their new bench boss.

Months later, the man who made that hire, Jérome Mesonero, left Victoriaville to be a scout with the Colorado Avalanche. So, there’s this guy you recently fired, he still has all his contacts and connections and knows everyone, and aww heck, let’s give him the job! And that’s what they did.

As quickly as Jean had cleaned out his coach’s office, he was hired upstairs as the new general manager of the team. Awkward.

So Richardson has to coach a team Jean managed last year, minus Mark Tremaine and Ross Johnston, to a five-game defeat in the first round, and do a better job with them. Terrific. It will work out terrific.

(Guys like Yan Pavel Laplante and Jan Mandat can still score, though, and Brandon Whitney is back as an overager between the pipes. They aren’t at a total loss.)

Shawinigan Cataractes – 2013-14 record: 20-39-4-5 for 49 points; Division finish: 4th; Result: Lost to Baie-Comeau in first round;

Does Shawinigan have enough to escape the East basement?

Ehh. They will be an improved team than the 20-39-4-5 record they posted last year, but not much better. Anthony Beauvillier will be improved, and he’s an explosive offensive player. They need a lot of help though.

This is year three of a scorched earth rebuild after the 2012 Memorial Cup team that won, then sold the team off before the ticker tape was cleaned from the parade. They are a young team, but this year, the team will show a future, finally.

Also, Marvin Cüpper and his career 27-59 record is back as an overager. Just to rub it in that he can face tons of rubber for no discernable reason. He was sixth in the league in saves last season, despite playing 700 less minutes than the saves leader, Alex Dubeau of the Moncton Wildcats.

Mike Sanderson is Buzzing the Net’s QMJHL contributor. Find him on twitter at @mikersanderson.