Anthony Duclair – Quebec Remparts – 2013 NHL Draft

With Anthony Duclair, it’s all about speed, as he is one of the fastest, if not the fastest player in the QMJHL. He likes to blast his way through the defenders with amazing explosion and he does it with such ease.  He has a motor that never stops and

you never know when the turbo will turn on.

Duclair had a remarkable first season in the league and produced with great consistency alongside Grigorenko. He helped his linemate a lot with his speed by creating openings on the ice and going hard to the net.  He also showed a very good finishing touch around the net and a good release on his shot. His smooth stick handling allows him to carry the puck effectively at high speed and change direction very quickly. We also like how Duclair plays with an edge, even though he is not the biggest forward on the ice. He is willing to get his nose dirty and will not hesitate to deliver a hit. This part of his game remains undervalued, but he could become even more annoying to play against when he gets bigger.

What we would like to see Duclair improve is his play without the puck and the decisions he makes with it on his stick. He caused some costly turnovers in the neutral zone and he needs to be more useful in the defensive zone with better positioning. We also have to consider that he must make decisions faster be-cause of the speed he plays in, which might explain why Duclair had so many turnovers. He needs to play with his head up a little bit more and have better awareness of what is going on around him when he en-ters the offensive zone at full speed. All that being said, Duclair looks very promising and still has a lot of time to improve on his overall game.