Goalie prospects, especially those who come out of the QMJHL, can be pretty difficult to evaluate. 

For example, when the Leafs drafted Antoine Bibeau in the 6th round of the 2013 NHL Draft (his second year of eligibility), the reaction was pretty, uh, well I’m not sure if there was a reaction. As time passed, Bibeau’s stat lines didn’t strike anyone as “amazing”, or even “good”. In fact, when TLN put together its Leafs Prospects Midterm Rankings, Bibeau didn’t even make our list of honourable mentions, let alone our top twenty list.

Haha, wow. Whoops. 

With a 40-save performance just minutes ago, Bibeau has led his Val-d’Or Foreurs to a QMJHL title. He’s off to the Memorial Cup, where he’ll face off against fellow Leafs prospects Matt Finn (Guelph) and Ryan Rupert (London). 

Not impressed yet? How does an MVP nod sound?

Anthony Mantha who?