Why You’re Missing Out on the Xavier Villeneuve Hype
Where’s the Hype? Well, it’s Nobody’s Business.
Meet Xavier Villeneuve: an undersized, yet electric 2007-born defenseman who plays for the Blainville-Boisbriand Armada in the QMJHL. As Gavin McKenna has been setting records out west, Villeneuve has quietly been destroying the competition out east. When his height and weight may leave you perplexed at how and why he’s receiving any “hype” at all - standing at a gargantuan 5’10” 150 pounds - his statsheet will leave nothing but your mouth dropped.
Every league in the CHL has a storied history of players. For the OHL, in the past 20 years alone, we’ve seen once in a lifetime talents in Connor McDavid, and Patrick Kane surge through the league, while Saginaw Spirit Draft eligible Michael Misa has been making history of his own this season. In the WHL, most recently Connor Bedard earned hype as one of the most highly touted prospects in the history of not just the NHL, but in all of pro sports; and so far, I’d say he’s done a pretty good job at living up to those expectations on a historically bad Chicago Blackhawks team. And finally, the QMJHL. A league that is talked about, but usually lasts in conversations. A league so intriguing and interesting in its own right that, at times, it can be forgotten. I mean, considering the fact that the main language spoken in Quebec is French, for outside viewers watching a game in the Q can feel like watching a game in a whole other world. But, with that being said, it has arguably been the best at producing talent out of all three of the leagues: Sidney Crosby, Mario Lemieux, Nathan MacKinnon and even a player like Alexis Lafreneiere, who was the first pick in the 2019 NHL Draft, has flashed signs of stardom since last season’s playoffs.
However, over the past 25 seasons, one player has had a point per game average greater than .80 at 17 years old or younger as a defenseman. Can you guess who it is? Of course, it’s Villeneuve. At 16-years-old, Villeneuve played the entire 2023-24 season in the Q, posting 43 points in 54 games. Dancing along the blue-line and dipsy-doodling around the offensive zone like it was nobody's business, Villeneuve simply looked like a kid in a playground. Comfortable, at-home and confident would be the 3 best words to describe how Villeneuve looked as a 5’10” defenseman in his D-2 season who should’ve been getting bullied by players that were up to 20-years-old.
New Year, Same Xavier
As Blainville’s season came to an end, those who had been fortunate enough to experience the joy of watching Villenuve play in person were pumped at what the future could bring for the kid. What was the limit? A division title? QMJHL championship? Dare I say a Memorial Cup birth? No. Not yet at least. First Villeneuve would have to prove that his 2024 season wasn’t a fluke, and simply the product of some good puck luck, and a few fancy moves.
You can probably guess what would happen from there.
Villeneuve would go on a tear, showing a new found level of confidence and poise in his game. He was in complete control all the time. The size concerns remained plentiful, but how could anyone bat an eye? Villeneuve was too busy twirling and spinning his way around opposing defenses, and didn’t show any weakness in his game whatsoever when the puck was on his stick.
From there, Villeneuve would continue to impress. Not only would he earn a spot on Team Canada’s roster for the upcoming and currently occurring U18 World Junior Championships, but there’s an argument to be made that without Matthew Schaefer on the roster, he’s the most offensively-gifted defenseman on the roster. As of April 20th, 2025, Villeneuve has used his dynamic puck skills, high-level hockey IQ, and exceptionally smooth edgework to ease his way into a light point-per game season; earning every tally of a 62-point stellar campaign that has featured 50 assists that leads all QMJHL defenseman.
But it’s not just what appears across the statsheet that makes Villeneuve special. Like I said earlier, his edgework is silky smooth, and his size has had little effect on his production and overall game simply because no one can seem to lay a finger on him. His quick skating is backed up by elite puck skills. There’s no situation that you can throw him into that he’s not perfectly comfortable making a decision in. He’s flat-out dynamic, showcasing a complete offensive game that makes him look like a veteran in a rookie’s frame.
McKenna Gets the Views, Not You.
But, If he’s this good, why aren’t people paying more attention? It’s simple. Every few Draft classes we are treated to a generational talent. A player so good that you can’t seem to take your eyes off of them - watching them play is like being put into a hypnotic trance. A player that when you watch them play you’re left speechless. Wondering if you just watched the “I’m 12” scene from Benchwarmers rather than an actual competitive and far hockey game. Villeneuve is eligible for the 2026 NHL Draft, which just so happens to be the same Draft class as generational prospect Gavin McKenna, who has been animatedly obliterating the competition in this season’s WHL playoffs. Finishing the regular season with 129 points in just 56 games, it’s easy to see why all the attention has gone to him.
Players like McKenna are generational talents and simply on another level, which shrouds out and deemphasizes the remaining talent in the Draft class no matter how good it may be. One of the best examples of this came recently, only 10 years ago in the 2015 Draft. Throughout the entire season, the Connor McDavid hype was serious and people were starting to understand how good of both a prospect and a player he truly was. He dominated for Erie in the OHL that season, putting up 120 points in less than 50 games. However, Jack Eichel, who was a once in a decade type of prospect in his own right, got only a fraction of the attention, despite winning the Hobey Baker award as a freshman at Boston University. Once the Draft got past the top 2, forget it. The sheer talent of McDavid took up all the headlines to the point that people forgot how good of an all around Draft class 2015 really was, until we started to see the results: multiple players picked outside of the top 32, not just 1st round picks, or players selected within the top 10, but many of those players blossoming into superstars. Sebastian Aho, Kirill Kaprizov and Roope Hintz just to name a few.
With McKenna playing the way he has, and showing no signs of slowing down, it looks like 2026 will fall subject to the same circumstances as the 2015 Draft. With all the attention on McKenna, the Draft’s spotlight will shrink, making room for only those who people believe deserve to be talked about in the same realm as him. Those spots will most likely be taken fast, as skilled Swedish forwards Viggo Bjorck, and Ivar Stenberg, as well as Canadian power-forward Ryan Roobroeck seem to have rounded out the consensus top 4 so far; filling up the Draft news when people can find reasons to not talk about McKenna.
This sets up an extremely interesting dynamic for Villeneuve, as he can continue to do what he has done for the past 2 seasons: subtlety dominate. While the rest of the hockey world is cluelessly unaware of the true talent that is on their hands.