The Columbus Blue Jackets’ start to the 2023-24 season has been tumultuous, to say the least. While they’ve finally snapped a franchise-worst nine-game winless streak, they are still in the basement of the standings in the Eastern Conference. Their top guns Johnny Gaudreau and Patrik Laine aren’t firing, their team defense has been underwhelming, and they continue to struggle to gain traction. During times like these, it’s important to look for bright spots around the organization wherever you can find them.
One such bright spot is a gem that the Blue Jackets found in the 2022 third round. They used the 96th overall selection to pick an undersized offensive dynamo from the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League’s (QMJHL) Halifax Mooseheads. Jordan Dumais has been one of many of the team’s prospects with sky-high potential. He’s built upon an accolade-laden 2022-23 season and has shown that he is not a one-hit-wonder.
Dumais’ Post-Draft Journey
Dumais capitalized on a strong draft year and somehow managed to improve. His scoring was absolutely torrid. He was consistent and loaded up with a plethora of multi-point affairs, scoring in 54 of 64 games, including two five-point games, three six-point games, and one seven-point game. His 54 goals and 140 points were the most prolific offensive performance in the QMJHL since Alexander Radulov‘s in the 2005-06 season. That performance was good enough to win the Michel-Brière Trophy as the league’s most valuable player (MVP).
After the hype of 2022-23, there were definitely a few more sets of eyes on the 5-foot-9 winger coming into the new campaign. He certainly didn’t disappoint in the Traverse City rookie tournament, lighting the lamp four times and assisting on four goals in only a few games played. Then came regular camp that included a few decent preseason appearances.
Related: Blue Jackets’ Prospect Dumais is Lighting Up the QMJHL
However, there were a couple of factors working against the youngster becoming an NHLer. One was the state of the team’s logjam at the forward position, which really didn’t provide any attainable roster spots for a prospect to break through. The other is his ineligibility to play in the American Hockey League (AHL) due to his age and the current transfer agreement between the NHL and the QMJHL’s governing body – the Canadian Hockey League (CHL).
So Dumais, a player who has done nearly everything that an individual can do in junior hockey has been forced to return to his old stomping grounds and give it another go. After being sidelined early by an injury, he started the campaign with his same unabashed scoring prowess with 34 points in a 14-game point streak. After 15 games and, factoring in his games lost to injury, he’s on pace for 50 goals and 131 points through 58 games. It’s right on track to match his production from 2022-23.
The main concern to Dumais staying in the QMJHL for another season is that after he’s dominated the league for three seasons, the lack of consistently raising the quality of his competition will stunt his growth and lower his ceiling. If he’s not constantly used to challenging himself by playing against better players, there could be a bit of a jarring effect that hits once he finally does graduate to those higher levels.
Dumais’ Future & Best-Case Scenario
There is a lot of potential looking ahead for Dumais in his development path. While he was snubbed by Canada’s World Junior selection committee last year, it is hard or impossible to imagine that he’s overlooked for this year’s squad. Being included in the marquee tournament is really the last bit of unconquered territory for the Blue Jackets’ prospect at the junior level. If he has a successful tournament, he’ll bring some more momentum back to Halifax, which should lead him to close out his junior career with aplomb.
Through their first 25 games, the Mooseheads are the second-best team in the standings, so Dumais has a real chance to compete for the league championship and the Memorial Cup. Success in either one of those tournaments would be a boon to his confidence and development as a whole.
Next season is Dumais’ first year of AHL eligibility. It’s often said that the jump from junior hockey to the AHL is larger than that from the AHL to the NHL, so his next season will be crucial to his long-term development. A good comparison is fellow Blue Jackets prospect and last year’s QMJHL playoff MVP James Malatesta, who graduated to the AHL’s Cleveland Monsters this season. While he was dominant in Quebec, he has struggled to gain a footing in the pro ranks so far. Not giving up on Malatesta by any means at this point, but I’m just using him as an example to illustrate that success in juniors does not always instantly translate to success in the professional game.
There is a real chance that Dumais could evolve into a legitimate top-six scorer at the NHL level. It’s easy to look at similarly sized players who had a similarly dominant career in junior hockey to draw some comparisons. The main name that comes to the forefront is Detroit Red Wings forward Alex Debrincat, who slipped to the second round of the 2016 NHL Draft because of his diminutive stature. He’s gone on to be a multiple 40-goal scorer and set an example for any forward under 5-foot-10 who has been told they can’t make it because of their size. Dumais becoming another Debrincat-esque success story is his best-case scenario.
While there hasn’t been a ton of positivity for the Blue Jackets this season, Dumais’ continued dominance of the QMJHL has been a bright spot for their prospect pool. His start to the season has gone a long way towards proving that his MVP season was no fluke and he is far from a one-hit wonder.
