The QMJHL’s Maritime Division has become the most hotly-contested race in the entire league, and has become a hotbed for talent. Maritime teams have 19 draft-eligible players named to Central Scouting’s “Players to Watch” list for November, and that’s not including already drafted players such as Drake Batherson, Pierre-Olivier Joseph, Antoine Morand, Arnaud Durandeau, and Ostap Safin.
On defense in particular, teams run deep with talent. Each team has a top pairing that make their peers salivate at the sheer thought of having them on their team.
So of the top defensive pairings in the Maritimes, I have to wonder: Which one is the best?
First, for those who aren’t aware, these are the designated top pairings for each team:
Acadie-Bathurst: Noah Dobson, Adam Holwell
Cape Breton: Leon Gawanke, Adam McCormick
Charlottetown: Pierre-Olivier Joseph, Saku Vesterinen
Halifax: Jared McIsaac, Walter Flower
Moncton: Nicolas Welsh, Jonathan Aspirot
Saint John: Radim Salda, Bailey Webster
To save time and typing, I’ll simply refer to the pairs by their team name, or as “X’s pairing”
First, I want to look at a simple stat: Points. The amount that each pair is actually producing while on the ice. The stats will be a little skewed, and you’ll see why:
| Name | Pos | Team | Age | GP | G | A1 | A2 | P |
| Nicholas Welsh | D | MON | 20.35 | 25 | 2 | 13 | 9 | 24 |
| Noah Dobson | D | BAT | 17.68 | 24 | 1 | 11 | 8 | 20 |
| Radim Salda | D | SNB | 18.57 | 24 | 5 | 6 | 9 | 20 |
| Adam Holwell | D | BAT | 20.52 | 24 | 5 | 8 | 6 | 19 |
| Saku Vesterinen | D | CHA | 18.54 | 19 | 3 | 6 | 10 | 19 |
| Leon Gawanke | D | CAP | 18.29 | 23 | 2 | 11 | 5 | 18 |
| Pierre-Olivier Joseph | D | CHA | 18.20 | 20 | 2 | 10 | 5 | 17 |
| Adam McCormick | D | CAP | 17.22 | 23 | 4 | 7 | 4 | 15 |
| Jared McIsaac | D | HAL | 17.47 | 23 | 2 | 7 | 5 | 14 |
| Jonathan Aspirot | D | MON | 18.33 | 24 | 5 | 1 | 4 | 10 |
| Bailey Webster | D | SNB | 20.01 | 23 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 4 |
| Walter Flower | D | HAL | 18.35 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
The first most obvious standout is that Halifax’s Walter Flower has been injured for almost the entire season, and just recently made his return to the lineup. He was almost instantly placed with McIsaac and has hardly left his side since. That’s why he’s included as the top pair D.
Individually, Nicolas Welsh has been outstanding for Moncton this season from a point production standpoint, leading all QMJHL defenseman with 2 goals and 22 assists.
The two teams that stand out, however, are Charlottetown and Bathurst. Charlottetown’s top pairing has accounted for 36 points, while Bathurst’s comes in just ahead of them with 39 points. All four players (Dobson and Holwell, Vesterinen and Joseph) rank in the top half of the sample size in points, although Vesterinen’s numbers have been propped up by a large number of secondary assists (if you care about that sort of thing. Personally, I don’t).
But points don’t paint the full picture, especially for defencemen. A number that is a little more telling is Goals Allowed While On Ice (GAoI). This is exactly what it sounds like: the amount of goals that have been scored against while a player is on the ice. It’s essentially the minus side of +/-; while that’s not a very telling stat these days, it’s about the best we have for major junior.
| Name | Pos | Team | Age | GP | eTOI/GP | GAoI |
| Walter Flower | D | HAL | 18.36 | 4 | 11.17 | 3 |
| Saku Vesterinen | D | CHA | 18.55 | 19 | 22.02 | 21 |
| Jonathan Aspirot | D | MON | 18.33 | 24 | 19.71 | 24 |
| Adam Holwell | D | BAT | 20.52 | 24 | 24 | 25 |
| Pierre-Olivier Joseph | D | CHA | 18.21 | 20 | 24.42 | 28 |
| Noah Dobson | D | BAT | 17.69 | 24 | 25.04 | 31 |
| Jared McIsaac | D | HAL | 17.47 | 23 | 22.81 | 36 |
| Nicholas Welsh | D | MON | 20.36 | 25 | 24.48 | 38 |
| Radim Salda | D | SNB | 18.56 | 25 | 24.35 | 40 |
| Leon Gawanke | D | CAP | 18.29 | 24 | 22.56 | 41 |
| Adam McCormick | D | CAP | 17.23 | 24 | 22.78 | 42 |
| Bailey Webster | D | SNB | 20.02 | 24 | 19.8 | 42 |
Once again, there’s a large discrepancy between the top half and the bottom half, with Walter Flower being the outlier for missed time. Holwell and Dobson remain in the top portion of the league despite logging some of the heaviest minutes of the group. While Joseph and Vesterinen are both posting strong numbers for Charlottetown, they’ve also both played significantly less games than the rest of the group.
One pairing that does surprise me here is the duo of Adam McCormick and Leon Gawanke for Cape Breton. Both are logging average minutes, yet are second- and third-last respectively in GAoI.
Due to Flower being an outlier and the discrepancy in GP from Charlottetown’s duo, I’ve calculated GAoI as a “per 60 minutes” function. This puts everyone on the same playing field. Have a look:
| Name | Pos | Team | GP | eTOI/GP | GAoI | GAoI/60 |
| Adam Holwell | D | BAT | 24 | 24 | 25 | 2.6 |
| Saku Vesterinen | D | CHA | 19 | 22.02 | 21 | 3.01 |
| Noah Dobson | D | BAT | 24 | 25.04 | 31 | 3.09 |
| Pierre-Olivier Joseph | D | CHA | 20 | 24.42 | 28 | 3.43 |
| Jonathan Aspirot | D | MON | 24 | 19.71 | 24 | 3.47 |
| Nicholas Welsh | D | MON | 25 | 24.48 | 38 | 3.72 |
| Walter Flower | D | HAL | 4 | 11.17 | 3 | 4.02 |
| Radim Salda | D | SNB | 24 | 24.35 | 40 | 4.1 |
| Jared McIsaac | D | HAL | 23 | 22.81 | 36 | 4.11 |
| Leon Gawanke | D | CAP | 23 | 22.56 | 41 | 4.74 |
| Adam McCormick | D | CAP | 23 | 22.78 | 42 | 4.8 |
| Bailey Webster | D | SNB | 23 | 19.8 | 42 | 5.53 |
The pairings from Acadie-Bathurst and Charlottetown continue to pull away from the pack as the top two pairings. Special shout out to Bathurst D Adam Holwell, whose 2.6 GAoI/60 is almost a half a goal better than his next closest competitor.
Once concerning note here is 2018 NHL top prospect Jared McIsaac. While he’s one of the youngest on this list, his 4.11 GAoI/60 is below the average of 3.89. Is this indicative of poor defensive play, or the shortcomings of others on the ice with him?
Finally, while I’ve focused mainly on the numbers surrounding defensive play, driving the play offensively is a big part of being a defender. The last stat I’ve chosen to highlight is Goals For % Relative. For those unfamiliar, GF%Rel is how many goals you were on the ice for vs. how many against, expressed as a percentage relative to your teammates. A high GF%Rel means you were on the ice for more goals for than against, compared to your teammates when you were off the ice.
| Name | Pos | Team | GP | eTOI/GP | GF%Rel |
| Adam Holwell | D | BAT | 24 | 24 | 17.43 |
| Jonathan Aspirot | D | MON | 24 | 19.71 | 17.29 |
| Nicholas Welsh | D | MON | 25 | 24.48 | 13.11 |
| Saku Vesterinen | D | CHA | 19 | 22.02 | 10.39 |
| Radim Salda | D | SNB | 24 | 24.35 | 8.67 |
| Noah Dobson | D | BAT | 24 | 25.04 | 6.25 |
| Leon Gawanke | D | CAP | 23 | 22.56 | 1.69 |
| Pierre-Olivier Joseph | D | CHA | 20 | 24.42 | 0.98 |
| Adam McCormick | D | CAP | 23 | 22.78 | 0.6 |
| Jared McIsaac | D | HAL | 23 | 22.81 | -13.28 |
| Walter Flower | D | HAL | 4 | 11.17 | -21.15 |
| Bailey Webster | D | SNB | 23 | 19.8 | -33.49 |
Once again, Adam Holwell shows up at the top of this list. Unsurprisingly, so does the top scoring defenceman in the league, Nicolas Welsh.
One thing I haven’t mentioned thus far is that Saint John Sea Dogs D Bailey Webster has been last in almost every single category thus far. I try not to dump on players because it’s not fair to paint them as a “bad player” but I think that Saint John may be wise to promote someone such as Alexis Girard to the top line and have Webster face lesser competition. Girard has faired well to this point in the season and Webster is just getting caved; having him face 2nd and 3rd lines rather than 1st lines might boost his confidence an make him more effective. It could lead to marginally more success for a team in desperate need of wins.
So, to summarize, there were a few players who consistently showed up at the top half of this list, while some stayed closer to the bottom. My final rankings are:
- Acadie-Bathurst Titan
- Charlottetown Islanders
- Moncton Wildcats
- Halifax Mooseheads
- Cape Breton Screaming Eagles
- Saint John Sea Dogs
Nobody holds a candle right now to Adam Holwell. He’s been a rock on the Bathurst D, and is complemented by Noah Dobson, who unsurprisingly is shooting up Top Prospect lists across North America. I wouldn’t be surprised to see an NHL team take a flyer on Holwell by the end of the season. He has decent size (6’0, 187 lbs) and is proving to be very effective at both ends of the ice.
Saku Vesterinen and PO Joseph have both stepped their game up in a big way this season. Vesterinen is proving that he may be worthy of a draft pick in his second go at it, while Joseph is proving that the Arizona Coyotes were wise to grab the defender in the first round when they did.
In Moncton, Nicolas Welsh is have a stellar overage season and is really helping this team offensively. I haven’t seen much of he and Aspirot, but I’m hoping to catch a Wildcats game very soon.
Halifax and Cape Breton were really a toss-up for 4th and 5th. While Gawanke and McCormick posted better numbers offensively, McIsaac and Flower both had better numbers defensively. Furthermore, there’s just more potential with Flower given that he’s just getting back in the lineup. A few more games and he could alter this board entirely.
Finally, while Radim Salda has posted very respectable numbers offensively for the Sea Dogs, he and Bailey Webster can’t shut down opponents in their own zone. I don’t think that reflects just on these two though, as Saint John has been surprisingly poor this season.
Overall, it’s clear how much talent there is on the blueline this season in the Maritimes. Two players are expected to be drafted in the first round of the NHL draft. One is a recent first-round pick. A few are proving that NHL teams should give them a look. One this is for sure, get out and see these players while they’re still in the area. They won’t be for much longer.
Open Ice Hits 
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