Toronto Maple Leafs: Scouting the Halifax Mooseheads
By Josh Tessler
As the Toronto Maple Leafs prepare for the NHL Draft, they should take one last look at the QMJHL’s Halifax Mooseheads.
There are three Mooseheads that are projected to go in the first round of the 2018 NHL Entry Draft. Perhaps one will end up on the Toronto Maple Leafs.
Czech winger, Filip Zadina is the top Moosehead on the board. While Zadina would be a great asset, every NHL general manager would have to be off their rocker for Zadina to fall to the Toronto Maple Leafs. The Maple Leafs pick 25th in the first round, so it’s just a hunch but I’m pretty sure Zadina won’t be selected by the Leafs.
The chances of Dubas walking away with Zadina are as likely of the Pittsburgh Penguins trading Sidney Crosby for a washing machine. So, instead I’ll take an in-depth look at some of the other options from the Mooseheads.
The more realistic options including Benoit-Olivier Groulx and Jared McIsaac. Let’s take a look to see if they might be a good fit for the Maple Leafs organization.
Groulx
Let’s begin with Groulx.
Groulx is the son of the Benoit Groulx, former hockey player and the head coach of the AHL’s Syracuse Crunch. He was born in Rouen, France, but the family returned to Canada when he was young and they settled in the Ottawa suburb of Gatineau, Quebec.
In the 2016 QJMHL Entry Draft, he was taken by the Mooseheads as the first overall selection. Since joining the Mooseheads, he’s certainly developed into a strong centreman. In his first season, he registered 17 goals and 14 assists in 62 games played. This past season (his second season), he developed into a stronger weapon in the offensive zone. In 68 games played, he had 28 goals and 27 assists. Perhaps, in his third season, he might continue to blossom and average a point per game.
In addition, scouts very much love Groulx and his style of play. TSN Director of Scouting, Craig Button mentioned in his top 20 NHL Draft prospects list that Groulx reminds him of Florida Panthers’ forward, Aleksander Barkov.
If the Toronto Maple Leafs draft Groulx and he turns out anything like Barkov, it’s a win-win.
McIsaac
Now, let’s take a look at McIsaac.
In May, my fellow Editor in Leaf contributor, Lauren Kelly brought up McIsaac in a post. Below is a quote from Kelly’s piece on McIsaac.
"McIsaac was drafted 2nd overall by Halifax in the 2016 QMJHL Entry Draft. He won the Q’s Defensive Rookie of the Year for the 2016-17 season and won gold with Canada at the Ivan Hlinka Memorial in 2017. He’s labelled as one of the best shutdown defensemen available in the draft. McIsaac is aggressive, not afraid to drive to the net, with excellent skating and agility. He’s great at gap control and is not afraid to get physical with opponents."
With the qualities that Kelly mentioned in her post, McIsaac would be an excellent fit in the Maple Leaf organization.
McIssac Highlights
In the below video, you can see that McIsaac has exceptional speed, great puck handling and isn’t timid in the offensive zone. In addition, he’s a beast when 5v5 or on the power-play from the point. He could be a solid quarterback on a NHL power-play unit down the road.
This past season was a great one of McIsaac. In 65 games played, he tallied 9 goals and 38 assists. He progressed really nicely in comparison to his 2016-2017 campaign. During his 2016-2017 campaign, he had 4 goals and 28 assists in 59 games.
In Button’s March prospect ranking, he listed McIsaac as his 24th top prospect. In terms of defensive prospects, Button only favors a few more then him including Rasmus Dahlin, Evan Bouchard, Rasmus Sandin and a couple more.
While McIsaac likely won’t play in the NHL next season, a couple more years in the QJMHL couldn’t hurt his development.
Recap
All-in-all, if the Toronto Maple Leafs choose to select either Groulx or McIsaac with their first round selection, they’ll be adding a great young asset to the organization. Neither Groulx or McIsaac will join the team right from the get-go. They’ll need a few seasons more in junior hockey, but it won’t be long till they are household names at the Scotiabank Arena.
research from Wikipedia.com, stats from eliteprospects.com