Gauthier-Leduc continuing to wow critics

On Sept. 20, the Buffalo Sabres cut 10 players from their training camp roster. One of them was Rimouski Oceanic defenceman Jerome Gauthier-Leduc.

“He was a bit disappointed when he was told to return to us,” Rimouski head coach Serge Beausoleil said. “He came back with a good attitude and a mentality to improve.”

His opponents wished the Sabres kept him longer.

Gauthier-Leduc, 19, leads all defencemen in scoring with 37 points in 26games so far this season. He leads by eleven points, all while averaging over a point and a half a game.

He is currently on pace for a 105-point season. Earlier this season, he notched an eight-game goal-scoring streak, a QMJHL record for defencemen. Not only that, he has been playing a solid defensive game and playing big minutes on the Rimouski blueline.

The Oceanic sit in seventh spot in the league with a record of 17-14-0-0.

“He adds so much to our line-up,” Beausoleil said, “offensively and defensively. He’s a huge boost back there, and he’s in total control of the ice when he’s out there.”

Gauthier-Leduc was a first round pick of the Drummondville Voltigeurs in the 2008 QMJHL Entry Draft. Before he played a game with them, he was traded to the Rouyn-Noranda Huskies for scorer Yannick Riendeau and a swap of picks.

Riendeau scored 126 points that season for Drummondville, and added 52 points in the playoffs as they won the President’s Cup. Obviously, the expectations were tremendous on Gauthier-Leduc from the outset.

As a 16-year-old, Gauthier-Leduc had 17 points in 52 games, a respectable stat line for a young defenceman. The next season, he went a step further, getting 46 points, with 20 goals, in 68 games.

That summer, he was traded by Rouyn-Noranda to the Rimouski Oceanic for a first and a second round pick in 2012. Last year, he upped the ante again, netting 56 points in 61 games, including 18 goals.

This year, he’s been on a torrent pace, including 18 points during his eight-game record-breaking streak.

Gauthier-Leduc is modestly just looking for improvement in his overall play.

“I think a goal of mine would be to control the play,” he said. “I want to be able to control my zone and be able to help out my goaltender in the best way possible. So far this season has been great for me, but I always look at the team first.”

“He’s a great teammate, and he wants to be a leader,” coach Beausoleil added. “He has the right attitude, and he meshes well with the team around him. He is our anchor on defence, but he also compliments the team well.”

A knock on Gauthier-Leduc in the past was always his defensive game. Coaches and scouts have thrown out the names of Marc-Andre Bergeron and Marc-Andre Gragnani, two names that performed great offensively in the QMJHL but just couldn’t put the defensive game together enough to play anything more than lower-level minutes in the NHL.

Coach Beausoleil believes that Gauthier-Leduc will add more to the table than just a flashy game in the pros.

“His defensive work is what he needs to work on the most,” he said, “but I feel he is best suited to put it all together. Defensively he has been great for us so far. He has a great work ethic in practice and in the room to get stronger and handle the big NHL forwards, and his hockey sense is excellent.

I feel that as long as he can carry the same attitude he demonstrates daily here, he will make it for sure.”

“So far I have no real expectations for the season or anything in particular for myself,” Gauthier-Leduc said. “I want to help the team win first and foremost.

“I need to improve my body strength and my conditioning. There’s a big jump [from the QMJHL to the pros]. I want to be able to handle the physicality at the next level.”