Lafreniere named CHL Player of the Year

Alexis Lafrenière of Rimouski Océanic have been named the Canadian Hockey League player of the year, the league announced Wednesday.

Lafreniere, FC Hockey’s No. 1-ranked prospect for the 2020 NHL Draft, was the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League’s nominee for the award, beating out Marco Rossi of the Ontario Hockey League and the Adam Beckman of the Western Hockey League.

The star left-winger becomes just the second player to win the award twice, let along in back-to-back seasons, after Sidney Crosby in 2004 and 2005.

“Lafreniere has showed to be an incredibly valuable player for Rimouski this season, driving the offense every possession and creating countless scoring opportunities for his allies,” Quebec-based FC Hockey scout Andy Lehoux said. “Thanks to his tremendous offensive awareness, playmaking abilities and puck-handling skills, the 6-foot-1 left winger is able to control the pace of the play and dissect defenses with dexterity.”

Lafreniere has lengthy resume heading into the draft, including the CHL’s Prospect of the Year. His season highlighted by the Michel Brier Trophy as the QMJHL’s most valuable player and the QMJHL’s Jean-Beliveau Trophy as the league points leader with 112 (35 goals, 77 assists) in 52 games. He also won the Michael-Bossy Trophy as the Q’s best professional prospect and the Paul-Dumont Trophy as the league’s Personality of the Year.