Philadelphia Flyers 2019 NHL Draft Spotlight: Raphaël Lavoie

The massive dual-forward prospect possesses an exceptional offensive skill set, but a slight knock on his defensive game could make the Philadelphia Flyers look elsewhere with their 11th overall selection.

Raphaël Lavoie is a big 6’4, 198-pound forward who has the ability to play both the center and right-wing positions, though it’s more likely he plays the wing once he reaches the NHL level. He utilizes his size advantage to bully his way through the opposition and has found great success in the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League (QMJHL) because of it.

The Montreal, Quebec native’s had no issue with dominating QMJHL talent since his sophomore and first full season in the league, scoring 63 points (30 Goals, 33 Assists) in 68 games with the Halifax Mooseheads. He, then, followed up that year posting 73 points (32 Goals, 41 Assists) in six fewer games during this past 2018-19 campaign, showing a quick offensive improvement for the 18-year-old. Lavoie also shined during playoff action with 32 points in 23 games, which helped the Mooseheads reach the QMJHL and Memorial Cup Finals, where they lost to the Rouyn-Noranda Huskies. His regular season numbers tied for third on the entire team and led Halifax in postseason points, as well.

As I mentioned above, Lavoie is an excellent offensive player. He has a tremendously hard and accurate wrist, slap, and one-time shot that he can get off at a quick rate. His large frame aids in moving defenders to get in front of the net, using his good hands and stick work to cash in on deflections and rebound opportunities. The best part of his game on offense is easily the way he protects and moves the puck, as he possesses outstanding stick-handling abilities for a guy of his size and utilizes that stature to keep opposing players away from the disk. Lavoie is also a quality skater and can set up his teammates as a gifted passer.

The only weakness to his game at this point in time is his defense. It’s not that Lavoie isn’t a willing defender, because he shows a high effort on the fore-and-back check and has the reach to break plays up, but could work on his positioning in his own zone to improve in that area. The skills are there for Lavoie to become at least trustworthy defensively; he just needs to put it all together. In my opinion, coaching should take care of most of the skepticism down the line.

While it could be looked at as somewhat of a reach by some, I wouldn’t mind if the Philadelphia Flyers took Lavoie at 11. He’s only going to get stronger as he ages and matching that with his size and offensive capabilities, he could become a terrific Top-6 power-forward in the NHL. The concern over his defense doesn’t particularly bother me.