2026 NHL Draft: Villeneuve modeling game after Canadiens' Hutson

The 2026 NHL Draft will be held in June at a site to be determined. NHL.com will take a closer look at some of the draft-eligible players to watch. This week, a profile on defenseman Xavier Villeneuve with Blainville-Boisbriand of the Quebec Maritimes Junior Hockey League. Full draft coverage can be found here.

Xavier Villeneuve doesn't have to look far to find his ideal role model.

The defenseman for Blainville-Boisbriand of the Quebec Maritimes Junior Hockey League only needs to check about 30 miles to the east to watch Montreal Canadiens defenseman Lane Hutson.

Villeneuve (5-foot-11, 162 pounds), like Hutson (5-9, 162), is an undersized offensive dynamo with an oversized chip on his shoulder.

His offensive instincts and competitiveness in all areas of the ice earned Villeneuve an A rating from NHL Central Scouting in its preliminary players to watch list for the 2026 NHL Draft, and the 18-year-old is a likely top-10 selection.

"My offensive game, I think it goes with the skills, the compete and the skating," Villeneuve said. "But I think the compete brings in also a good defensive game. I kind of like Lane Hutson, Quinn Hughes. I like to look at those guys."

Hutson, selected by the Canadiens in the second round (No. 62) of the 2022 NHL Draft, led all first-year players with 66 points (six goals, 60 assists) in 82 games and won the Calder Trophy as NHL rookie of the year last season. It was the most points by a rookie defenseman since Brian Leetch had 71 points (23 goals, 48 assists) in 68 games in 1988-89.

This season, Hutson leads Canadiens defensemen with 21 points (four goals, 17 assists) in 26 games.

Villeneuve leads QMJHL defensemen with 30 points (five goals, 25 assists) in 25 games. Last season, he was second with 62 points (12 goals, 50 assists) in 61 games and became the third 17-year-old to win the Emile Bouchard Trophy as QMJHL defenseman of the year, following Samuel Girard (2016) and J.J. Daigneault (1983).

"Somebody asked me about [Villeneuve] the other day and I said, 'Eight years.' They looked and go, 'What do you mean, eight years?' I said, 'Lane Hutson, eight years, eight-year contract,'" NHL Central Scouting director Dan Marr said, referring to the eight-year, $70.8 million contract Hutson signed Oct. 13. "[Villeneuve] has got somebody just down the street that he can look up to. There's been other players before him, you go back to Kris Letang, when they came in the League that were considered undersized and they just take off because they have the talent. Lane is setting the trail for players like Xavier that are coming up behind him."

Like Hutson, Villeneuve drives play with his high-end skating.

"He's always able to use his edges," Blainville-Boisbriand coach Alexandre Jacques said. "He's able to slow down and then explode in the open area. Obviously skating ability is huge for his game, but I think too is his vision of the game. He's able to anticipate plays or see plays.

"Great hockey players have that quality. He's able to see them happening before. He's using his skating to get to the open space and to be able to make those plays."

Hutson also showed he could defend through smart body positioning and stick placement, and an unwillingness to back down.

He displayed that last season by leading NHL rookie defensemen with 123 blocked shots, and was tied for eighth with 40 hits. With 16 hits and 42 blocked shots through 26 games, he's on pace to match those totals this season.

Villeneuve takes a similar cerebral approach to defending, and is willing to stand up for himself when needed.

"It's combination of having a good stick, being smart by where I'm positioning my body," he said. "So often, big guys are going to try to go for a big hit, like shoulder to shoulder. I'm just going to cut in front of their hands and try to separate their body from the puck. So that's something like I've been working on a lot, and it's going good."

Villeneuve got a head start on that work before training camp, when he got to skate against older players, including minor league veterans Joel Teasdale (6-foot, 212), Xavier Parent (5-8, 170) and Nathan Legare (6-foot, 200).

"At the start of the season, we had around like, seven pro guys that were waiting for their [American Hockey League] camp or were waiting for their contract in Europe," Jacques said. "So they were on the ice, bigger guys, 24, 25 years old. Xavier always wanted to do the 1-on-1's against them. And he was pushing himself and he was thriving.

"If he was getting beat physically, he was going back after the same guy. You can see that quality and maybe some chip on his shoulder, that he needs to prove something. He just wants to be out there and he's not afraid to compete against anyone."

Villeneuve said those battles against older, stronger players has made it a bit easier now facing players his own age.

"It was great," he said. "Anytime I'm on the ice with someone, I want to play against the best player or the bigger body. I was trying to take something out of those 1-on-1's. These guys were on the ice with us, and I took a lot of pride in beating them every time. That really helped me."

Those pre-camp training sessions weren't the first time Villeneuve tested himself. As a 15-year-old, he left home to spend the 2022-23 season with the Pittsburgh Penguins Elite 15U team.

"I saw I could be on the ice twice a day, working out anytime I want," he said. "So that was great for me. And then also the chance to be away, to live in a billet (home), that was good for me. My mom's doing so much for me, so I kind of like to be away from them a little. I matured a lot, and that was a big part."

The Penguins Elite program trains at UPMC Lemieux Sports Complex in Cranberry, Pennsylvania, the same practice rink the Pittsburgh Penguins use.

Villeneuve said he would see Penguins players occasionally but never got to meet them. However, he did get to meet one Pittsburgh star when he was younger.

"I met Sidney Crosby when I was 5 or 6 years old in Rimouski (Quebec)," Villeneuve said. "So that's one of my greatest memories, for sure. ... He's going back sometimes in Rimouski, just to go see his billet and his friends. So we were playing golf, my dad, my mom, my brother, and then someone from the golf course, my dad knew him. He was like, 'Oh, we've got a surprise for you boys.' We didn't know what was going on and then we see Sidney Crosby and we were like, 'Oh, my god, is that him?' So that was great.

"It's still on my phone. I'd love to play against him one day."

If Villeneuve stays on his current path, he could soon have that opportunity.

"I think what everybody appreciates is he's fearless for his size," Marr said. "He's not afraid to lead a rush, he's not afraid to take the puck, he's not afraid to go into traffic. But he's learned how to play without the puck utilizing his smarts and his skating. He's so quick and agile.

"This is going on three years now and every time I'm there, he's the player that I can't take my eyes off of, every game. That's just the style that he plays. And when you can do that on such a consistent basis, it's real. It's not where they have just one game. You can't really cheat or fake it. He's the real deal."