Rochette played an important leadership role on a young, upstart Quebec team this season. He possesses some very good puckhandling skills that help him control and protect the puck. Does an impressive job of creating dangerous opportunities for his linemates, as he can create space with his agile skating and quick hands, which he uses to weave his way through the neutral zone and find space to set up. While his skating is excellent, he lacks that extra gear that would help him find more separation from defenders on the rush, though he utilizes great movement in the offensive zone and loves to circulate around the ice, feeding his teammates with smart passes. He always knows where his teammates are and he can find them with precise passes that opponents don’t expect. With his fast hands and great edge work, he often attracts opponents to chase him, which helps open his teammates for scoring chances. He can complete passes with both his backhand and his forehand, while also being able to be creative with them. Puts in a nice effort all over the ice. Can cut down opposing plays with some nice pressure and anticipation. Will backcheck to his defensive zone with determination. His defensive positioning looks bit off at times, and he seems to lack strength in his puck battles. He will need to get stronger so that he can be more effective with his stick and his physical battles. In order to take the next step and become a professional player he will need to create offense more consistently, especially finding ways to bring the puck by himself to high-danger areas in the offensive zone to generate shots. This will help him be more unpredictable for goaltenders and defenders since he would then have two ways of creating offense. Because of his playmaking and skating skills Rochette could be an interesting selection in the later rounds of the draft.

– FCHockey’s 2021 NHL Draft Guide