CHL notebook: Hurricanes prospect Poirier on pace for 60 goals

Future NHL stars are developing in the Canadian Hockey League this season. Each week, NHL.com will highlight a few of the top NHL-affiliated prospects in the Quebec Maritimes Junior Hockey League, the Ontario Hockey League and the Western Hockey League.

Justin Poirier sees a chance to make a bit of history, but the Carolina Hurricanes forward prospect is keeping the bigger picture in sight.

Poirier, a fifth-round pick (No. 156) in the 2024 NHL Draft, is second in the QMJHL with 23 goals in 26 games with Baie-Comeau, putting him on pace to score 60.

If the 18-year-old reaches that mark, he'd be the first player in the league to score at least 60 since Thomas Beauregard had 71 in 2006-07.

"It would mean a lot," Poirier said. "I know 60 goals is a huge number, but I just try to play my game and don't think too much about it. Just keep having fun and play my game, shoot the puck, and if good things happen, maybe I can hit 60 this year."

Scoring 60 wouldn't be a stretch for Poirier; he led the QMJHL with 51 goals in 68 games last season, and his 19.3 percent shooting percentage this season isn't far above his 19.0 percent from last season. While his shot is dynamic, it's his versatility in the offensive zone that's allowed him to push his goal scoring up a level this season.

"He's able to score in different ways, which makes him harder to defend," Hurricanes director of player development Peter Harrold said. "He has an NHL shot, he's got a very good release, and you notice more and more he can beat goalies clean. But a lot of the goals now, especially at the NHL level, are through screens. He scores from range, he can score in tight. His scoring diversity is actually very high as well. Just makes him harder to cover and defend, and it also keeps goalies guessing a little bit, and he can vary his shot placement. Offensively, he can do a lot of different things and score in different ways.

"He gets a lot of juice from his shot, but he's able to create offense in other ways too. I can't tell you exactly how he's doing it because it's rare that it's at almost at a goal a game pace. He's able to keep getting chances, and he capitalizes on a very large percentage of them."

Poirier (5-foot-7, 185 pounds) said he's been watching players of similar stature, including Detroit Red Wings forward Alex DeBrincat (5-8, 180) and Montreal Canadiens forward Cole Caufield (5-8, 175), as well as future Carolina teammates Sebastian Aho (6-1, 180) and Seth Jarvis (5-10, 184) to see how they diversify their play in the offensive zone.

"I know in junior I can beat the goalie from almost the blue line with my shot," he said. "But I know if I want to play pro one day, I need to go more in front of the net, score some dirty goals, rebound goals, tip goals, goals below the hash marks. I want to score from everywhere, so I keep improving that in practice and in games and try to be a better version of myself.

"I'm 5-8, so I need to be stronger than everyone else to be hard on my skates. "Just pushing my legs in the gym, on and off the ice, to be strong, to have a low center of gravity on the ice so that could help myself."

That strength also will help his skating, which Poirier said he's working to make more efficient.

"I know I can be quicker, stronger on my skates," he said. "I just want to be a better skater every day, that could help me faster to the next level. Skating is not my issue, but I'm not a cute skater, I'm not like a player like Clayton Keller or Jack Hughes, a very beautiful skater. They skate well on the ice. ... I use my quads to have big strides, but I can be more efficient. I keep working on that with the coaches here in Baie-Comeau, and in the summer with my power skating coach."

The Hurricanes see a bright future for Poirier because of his offensive skills, his competitiveness and his desire to improve. Scoring 60 goals is nice, but many junior hockey players have had as many and not reached the NHL; Beauregard, who retired in 2020, played his 13-season pro career in the minor leagues and in Europe.

"It would be great to have the 60 next to it, and that's a lot of goals," Harrold said. "This isn't specific to Justin, this is more of a general comment, you've got to be able to do a lot of different things, you've got to be able to get into those scoring positions, and he's unlikely to have the same number of chances at the next level because defenses get tighter and the game gets tighter, and things move faster.

“I think he'll adapt ... he has done that consistently at every level, so I would expect him to continue to do that moving forward."

OTHERS TO WATCH

Easton Cowan, RW, London: The Toronto Maple Leafs prospect scored in London’s 5-3 loss to Oshawa on Friday to give him points in 20 straight games (28 points; 15 goals, 13 assists) to open the season. Cowan ended last season on a 36-game point streak, giving the 19-year-old points in 56 straight regular-season OHL games (40 goals, 56 assists), a run that began Nov. 25, 2023. The Maple Leafs selected Cowan in the first round (No. 28) of the 2023 NHL Draft.

Etienne Morin, D, Moncton: The Calgary Flames prospect had an assist in a 5-2 win against Cape Breton on Dec. 1 and has 27 points (six goals, 21 assists) in 25 games this season. The 19-year-old now has 181 points (47 goals, 134 assists) in 214 games in his four seasons with Moncton, tying him with James Sanford for the highest-scoring defenseman in team history. The Flames selected Morin in the second round (No. 48) of the 2023 draft.

Tanner Howe, LW, Calgary: The Pittsburgh Penguins prospect was traded to Calgary by Regina on Nov. 21 and had at least a point in each of his first four games with his new team (three goals, five assists) before being held off the score sheet in a 4-3 loss to Prince Albert on Friday. That included his first hat trick of the season in a 9-0 win against Moose Jaw on Dec. 1. Selected by the Penguins in the second round (No. 46) of the 2024 draft, the 19-year-old has 15 points (nine goals, six assists) in 15 games with Calgary and Regina this season.