Alexis Lafrenière capped off a dream season on Saturday by being named the top player in the Canadian Hockey League, following in the footsteps of Rimouski Océanic legends Sidney Crosby (2004 and 2005) and Brad Richards (2000).

At 17, Lafrenière becomes only the sixth player in the history of the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League to earn this honour before the age of 18. In his second season in Rimouski, the Saint-Eustache native captured third place on the QMJHL scoring leaderboard, producing an outstanding  37 goals and 68 assists for an eye-popping total of 105 points in 61 games. He finished just 6 points shy of the top spot in the Q scoring race.

“It’s big. It is really a great honour to be able to win this trophy,” said the left-winger. “Yes, it’s an individual award, but I always had a team and coaches  who worked with me and helped me a lot so I can have a good season and improve as a player.”

Lafrenière joins NHL superstars, past and present, such as Connor McDavid, Luc Robitaille and Mario Lemieux in capturing best CHL player honours at 17 years old. Upon being told of this, a humble Lafrenière sought to once again highlight the tremendous teaching and support he enjoyed in his historic season with the Océanic.

“These are big names, and it’s fun to be on this list! But as I said, I was well-surrounded this year by 20-year olds like Jimmy Huntington and Olivier Garneau on my line. They both helped me develop and pushed me to become a better player.”

Source: TVA Sports