Max Brien, Jack Cameron headline standouts from 2026 QMJHL Cup Atlantic

MONCTON, New Brunswick — Since 2022, the QMJHL has sanctioned the lead-off event to their QMJHL Entry Draft scouting season to take place over the second weekend of October in Dieppe, New Brunswick. The Atlantic portion of the QMJHL Cup sees best-on-best U16 action representing New Brunswick, Newfoundland & Labrador, Nova Scotia, and Prince Edward Island, and is an early pulse point on the strength of the incoming East Coast class.

With a population less than that of the Montreal Islands (2.40 million versus 2.56 million), the region makes up a significant minority of the talent within—as well as outside of—the QMJHL. 19% of the players drafted during the 2025 QMJHL Entry Draft were from one of the Atlantic provinces, and 15% of the full-time players in the league this 2025-26 season are from the region. QMJHL Cup Atlantic alumni include 2025 NHL picks and Nova Scotians Brady Peddle (Pittsburgh) and Cole Chandler (Boston), as well as 2026 top prospects and OHL and USHL exports, respectively, Aiden O’Donnell (Nova Scotia) and Tynan Lawrence (New Brunswick). 

These standouts highlight the past habits of Atlantic Canadians to bypass the Q to maintain NCAA eligibility. But the CHL-NCAA rule change has ignited a new excitement in the tournament for QMJHL scouts who hope to convince these elite talents to pursue their pre-college development in the CHL’s easternmost circuit.

Following eight games in just under 48 hours (four games for each team), Nova Scotia continued their dominance at this event with their fourth straight QMJHL Cup Atlantic victory, defeating first-time runners-up Newfoundland & Labrador by a score of seven to one. Suffering absences in their forward core, New Brunswick secured third place on Sunday with a 7-1 win over Prince Edward Island. 

Storylines were aplenty within the tight schedule, from Nova Scotia’s success by committee to Newfoundland’s surge as a prospect powerhouse, from New Brunswick’s game-changers emerging on-the-fly to Prince Edward Island’s resilience and heart as the scrappy underdog. Here are the standout players who made all that possible.

Max Brien, F, Team Nova Scotia/Steele Subaru U18

Averaging over a goal per game in the NSU15MHL last season and already standing at 6-foot-2 at the time of the tournament, Max Brien embodies the elite combination of goal-scoring skill and size that was predestined to get lots of love in his major junior draft year. He finished the tournament with five points in four games (two goals, three assists) and looked every bit the part of a future power forward in the Q. He shoots, he hits, he backchecks, he gets in the slot, and he agitates his opponents on both the ice and the scoresheet. The only major knock on his game is his footspeed, which may reduce his goal-scoring abilities at the next level by largely eliminating rush chances. 

Still, he showed his ability to shoot and score in various offensive situations in an environment laden with opportunity, as Team Nova Scotia won their games by margins of two, three, five, six goals. In this tournament and at this level, he preferred to score via finesse, but he has the frame to screen offensively and salvage those diminishing rush chances when transitioning to the QMJHL, which is undoubtedly in his future if he so chooses.

Jack Cameron, D, Team Nova Scotia/Weeks Major Midgets U18

Watch the games and not the stats, and Jack Cameron quietly had one of the best aggregate performances of the tournament. Although he earned only one assist for all his efforts, Cameron’s elite puck-moving was integral to Team Nova Scotia’s success, which was ultimately anchored on ample offensive-zone time. He was an efficient, evasive, and consistent puck-mover for the Bluenoser squad, with the ability to also create down low in the offensive zone without impeding his awareness of his defensive responsibilities. 

He reminded our QMJHL Draft team of Columbus Blue Jackets prospect and Elite Prospects in-house favourite Jackson Smith, with better hockey sense habits, as well as some of the best puck-movers currently in the Q. Defenders like Cameron are permanently in-demand in the back-and-forth nature of the QMJHL and junior hockey, so he’s a solid first-round contender at this early stage of the season.

Miguel Duplessis, F, Team New Brunswick/Moncton Flyers U18 AAA

It took a few games for Miguel Duplessis to arrive in his typical form, but his efficacy even when the offence wasn’t coming as easily on a weakened New Brunswick team earned him a callout as one of the team’s top players. Although his goals outnumbered his assists last season (44 goals, 35 assists in 32 games played), he stepped into his high-value creation ways as an elite passer. Whereas his first game Friday evening looked good but ambiguous in terms of his strengths, he quickly began launching give-and-go rushes and passes to the slot beginning bright and early Saturday morning. 

The sense and tools there are very enticing, but his extended play on the puck was less confident, hesitating to carry the puck through the defensive zone and often physically separated from the puck without much fightback or further skill to evade as much. If Duplessis is able to work on playing through adversity, he is an intriguing high-round candidate for the 2026 QMJHL Draft.

Jamie Jaillet, D, Team New Brunswick/Moncton Flyers U18 AAA

With Team New Brunswick’s multiple absences in the forward core dominating the conversation, Jamie Jaillet rose to the occasion as the team’s all-situations defenseman in a tournament that proved to be much more difficult than previous years. Role assigned to him notwithstanding, Jaillet played like a capable, physical, and highly-aware defenseman through the tournament. 

He looked very comfortable in his own zone, carrying pucks and making outlet chip-passes with ease and confidence. He was able to evade opposing pressure and dish out some physicality of his own in the trapezoid. He kept his head up on retrievals, most commonly leveraging his skating to beat opponents in pursuit clean or to react quickly to an incoming check. His passing and movement with the puck in the offensive zone don’t match the level of his other skills, but Jaillet’s standard of play would make a good third- or fourth-round defensive pick.

Luke McGuire, F, Team Newfoundland/Calgary Edge School U17 Prep

Pencilled in for a third-place finish following the patterns of history, Team Newfoundland made an immediate statement at the 2026 QMJHL Cup Atlantic when they defeated Team New Brunswick in the inaugural game. No player in that game was more dynamic and eye-catching than Luke McGuire, the Newfoundland U15 league’s all-time leading scorer, who surpassed NHL first-rounders Zach Dean and Dawson Mercer. 

Newfoundland’s smallest forward at 5-foot-7, McGuire’s presence at this tournament was undeniably booming. He stepped out for the first game of the tournament and instantly looked like a world-beater, continuing to display his all-around high-end attributes throughout Newfoundland’s 2-2 weekend record. Speed, skating mobility, puck-protection, playmaking, hockey IQ—what’s not to like? Plus he was drawing penalties like he was Bob Ross; there was little way to contain him otherwise. 

He fared well against bigger bodies of his draft class, but following his development when playing bigger and stronger players will be crucial in gauging how much dynamism he’d be able to bring as a 16- or 17-year-old QMJHL player, facing off against 19- and 20-year-olds. In the interim, he’s a very exciting prospect with high-end skill up and down the menu.

Tye Murnaghan, D, Team Prince Edward Island/Eastern Dukes U16 AAA

For a team that was outscored 26-5 over four games, Tye Murnaghan deserves his flowers for his time on PEI’s defense. He handled the constant pressure from New Brunswick, Newfoundland, and Nova Scotia with great poise, showing frequent flashes of unhurried skill and cooling down the play on his stick, giving his teammates a line change or a simple breather. 

Off the puck, he was a beast in the defensive zone, breaking up plays and hugging the net in a tight defensive orientation with plays that helped his goalie rather than impeding their ability to make a save. He still has a number of elements to work on considerably before he can reach his full potential—both skating and puckhandling mechanics—but Murnaghan would make a fine late-round pick in 2026.

Damian Norris, F, Team Newfoundland/Upper Canada College U16 AAA

As a key cog in Newfoundland’s best finish in the brief history of the QMJHL Cup Atlantic, Damian Norris was a constant factor. Although he struggled offensively alongside his team when the games got tighter, he was perhaps the largest contributor to Newfoundland’s silver linings against Nova Scotia both times as a tenacious, defensively-smart player. A disruptive defensive player with offensive hockey sense and the guts to block shots when protecting a lead, Norris played with the true best of both worlds when it comes to a defensive forward. 

He had playmaking flashes which were high-quality when they worked, but were inconsistent otherwise. His best passes were considerable distances forward in the zone, offensive or neutral, and provided the insurance of his presence as the pivot to the back end. His impressive skating acceleration also aided his impact both ways. 

Although Norris’ pure offensive skill was outdone by many of his talented teammates as Newfoundland rallied for this best-ever finish at the QMJHL Cup Atlantic, his combination of high-end play-killing and respectable offensive capabilities played a large role in that success. If he is to continue this profile as he departs for Upper Canada College in Toronto, he’d be a solid mid-round option who would likely see an expedited path to the QMJHL due to his trustworthy habits.

Jayden Tillman, D, Team Nova Scotia/Bishop Kearney Selects 15U AAA

After a scary injury while playing with Bishop Kearney Selects 15U AAA just last month, Jayden Tillman returned not just to play, but to his top form as a raw defence prospect with some of the best defensive details in the tournament. Skating and gap control were his bread and butter this tournament, defending the transition with smart plays and unrelenting gaps, frequently forcing opposing forwards off their intended paths to offence.

Physical engagement with defensive-zone hits on the puck and the patience to let opponents get right where he wanted them before he threw a check or poked the puck off their stick rounded out the competitive essence of Tillman’s performance. His play was strongest in unstructured plays in the neutral zone, where his tools could shine, and he played a large part in keeping the play alive in the offensive zone. He scored Nova Scotia’s first goal of the tournament with a shot from the point and, although he would not earn another point after that, he remained an offensive factor in otherwise patrolling the blue line. 

Tillman was not necessarily the most reliable defender in this tournament, nor on his team, but his plays when he was “on” were a cut above in their efficacy to stave off offense with an aggressive, preventative approach. He’ll be pushing all season for high consideration in the QMJHL Draft.

Owen Weatherbie, F, Team Prince Edward Island/Charlottetown Knights U18 AAA

Listed on Elite Prospects as 5-foot-5, Owen Weatherbie is not your typical undersized forward. Sure, he has skill—he led the PEI U15 circuit in points with 46 in 36 last season—but in a tournament where his province’s team was constantly outmatched, it’s his impressive physicality that dominated the conversation around him. He was zipping around the ice with some sort of built-in evasiveness, pressuring opponents’ defensive-zone possessions unrelentingly with some material results. 

He generated perhaps the most entertaining play of the tournament, an open-ice hipcheck on 5-foot-11 Michael Burke, somersaulting the Newfoundland forward at the faceoff dot. It almost defies physics, how he’s able to utilize all 141 lbs of his weight to not just defend himself, but to initiate contact. QMJHL teams don’t necessarily treat small stature as a negative in skilled players, even more so when the small guy in question is as physical as Weatherbie. 

It’s always difficult to predict eventual heights in this age group, but even a modest growth spurt of two to four inches for Weatherbie and he’d make a very strong high-energy physical small forward, the ilk of which become cult players in the QMJHL, beloved by fans for their fearlessness and immutable status as underdogs.

Honourable mentions: Grayson Aguilar-Knee (F, Team New Brunswick/Moncton Flyers U18 AAA), Michael Burke (F, Team Newfoundland/Central Impact U18 AAA), Rhys Dickinson (F, Team New Brunswick/Fredericton Caps U18 AAA), Morgan Flemming (F, Team Nova Scotia/Valley Wildcats U18), Hudson Lynch (G, Team Prince Edward Island/Western Rebels U16 AAA), Hudson Pineau (F, Team Prince Edward Island/Western Rebels U16 AAA), Cole Toms (F, Team Newfoundland/Bishop’s College School U17)