Quebec Major Junior Hockey League players Dawson Mercer of Bay Roberts and Zachary Dean of Mount Pearl just missed out on some league awards announced this week.
Friday, the QMJHL announced its leading scorer Alexis Lafreniere was the winner of the Michael Bossy Award as the best pro prospect.
It’s named after Hockey Hall of Famer and the former New York Islander, who was one of the top snipers the NHL has ever seen.
The consensus No. 1 selection of the 2020 NHL Entry Draft, Lafreniere led the league in scoring with 112 points in 52 games.
Previous winners of the award are Mario Lemieux, Pat LaFontaine, Sidney Crosby and Vincent Lecavalier.
Mercer, who was up for the award, turned heads all season long. His performances earned him invitations to the CIBC Canada Russia Series, Canada’s world junior hockey championship squad and the Kubota CHL/NHL Top Prospects Game.
He piled up 42 points in 26 games with the Drummondville Voltigeurs before getting traded to Chicoutimi, where he accumulated another 18 points in 16 outings.
He is the 10th-ranked player amongst North American skaters by the NHL’s Central Scouting Bureau for the 2020 Draft.
Mercer was also a finalist for the Paul Dumont Trophy as personality of the year. The Dumont Trophy recognizes individuals who had a positive media impact and helped improve the league’s image throughout the season.
That award was also won by Lafreniere, for a second straight year. Previous winners are Crosby, Jonathan Drouin and Brad Richards.
Dean was a finalist for the Michael Bergeron Award as the QMJHL’s top offensive rookie.
It was won by Zachary Bolduc of the Rimouski Océanic, who was third in QMJHL rookie scoring with 30 goals and 52 points in 55 games.
Dean finished sixth amongst QMJHL rookies in scoring this past season, with 18 goals and 46 points in 57 games for the rebuilding Olympiques (22-37-5-0).
The 5-9 centre was drafted fourth overall in the QMJHL midget draft last summer.
Bergeron coached in the QMJHL between 1975 and 1980, winning the President’s Cup championship in 1978. He went on to serve as head coach of the Quebec Nordiques and the New York Rangers for 11 seasons.
Past winners of the award are LaFontaine, Lecavalier and Martin Lapointe.
