<\/p>\n
Ethan Gingeleskie played for the Nor’Easter in the fall. (Brian Kelly\/NEHJ) <\/p>\n
We’ve looked at the top ’10 forwards<\/a> and defenders<\/a> for the 2026 QMJHL Draft. Now, it’s time to shift our focus to the older players.<\/p>\n The QMJHL Draft differs from the USHL Drafts. In the USHL, Phase 1 is for first-year eligible players, while Phase 2 is for everyone else. The QMJHL does it all in one draft.<\/p>\n Every team’s goals are different when drafting older players. For some teams, it’s about getting the absolute best second-year eligible players who can make the jump and be with that team the longest. For others, it’s about getting older players who can come in and make an immediate impact, even if it’s only for one season.<\/p>\n So, the rankings for ’07s, ’08s and ’09s are even more subjective than the ’10s.<\/p>\n As was the case in my stories on the ’10s, I’m approaching this as if I were the general manager of the New England Hockey Journal Minutemen. I need to fill my team with the best ’09s, ’08s and ’07s. I’ll also only be ranking New England natives and those who played in the region this winter.<\/p>\n Thirty-seven New Englanders were picked last season. Of the 37, 16 (43.24 percent) were not first-year eligible players. Fourteen of the 16 were ’08s (second-year eligible players). So, I let that guide my rankings.<\/p>\n The two oldest players taken were ’06 Niko Tournas (Redding, Conn.) to the Moncton Wildcats and ’07 Everett Baldwin (Providence, R.I.) to the Saint John Sea Dogs. Tournas put up 43 goals and 74 points in 64 games, while Baldwin had 15 goals and 44 points in 62 games from the point.<\/p>\n This season, if ’07s and ’08s are going to be picked, they’re going to be projected as players who will have similar impacts in the QMJHL.<\/p>\n Someone who would have that kind of impact is Cedar Rapids RoughRiders forward Justin Graf (Lincoln, Mass.). He’s on the QMJHL’s final central scouting list for the draft. He’s slated to begin at Harvard next season, so he’s not on my list. But if he weren’t intent on beginning at Harvard this fall, he’d be near (or at) the top of my rankings.<\/p>\n