It’s that time of the year for The Win Column’s NHL Draft Rankings and Draft Profiles! The 2024 NHL Draft will take place on June 28 and 29 at The Sphere in Las Vegas.
Next up for us is Canadian forward Miguel Marques. Marques projects as high as 20th or as low as 63rd, likely making him an early to mid-second-round pick.
| PLAYER | POSITION | HANDEDNESS | HEIGHT | WEIGHT | AVG TOI |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Miguel Marques | F | R | 5’11” | 172 lbs | 19:12 |
Marques on-ice production
| YEAR | DRAFT RELATIVE | LEAGUE | TEAM | GP | G | A | P |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2019–20 | D-4 | BCEHL U17 | Cariboo Cougars U16 AAA | 5 | 1 | 1 | 2 |
| BCEHL U15 | Cariboo Cougars U15 AAA | 26 | 16 | 26 | 42 | ||
| 2020–21 | D-3 | CSSHL U15 | St. George’s School U15 Prep | 6 | 7 | 8 | 15 |
| 2021–22 | D-2 | CSSHL U17 | Delta Hockey Academy U17 Prep | 31 | 42 | 74 | 116 |
| CSSHL U18 | Delta Hockey Academy U18 Prep | 5 | 7 | 5 | 12 | ||
| WHL | Lethbridge Hurricanes | 10 | 2 | 4 | 6 | ||
| 2022–23 | D-1 | WHL | Lethbridge Hurricanes | 59 | 8 | 12 | 20 |
WHC-17 | Canada White U17 | 6 | 1 | 5 | 6 | ||
| WHL | Lethbridge Hurricanes | 67 | 28 | 46 | 74 |
Marques led all Lethbridge Hurricanes in points this past season with 74. These 74 points were generated while he averaged 19:12 per night and served as a power play specialist, getting 3:01 on the man advantage per contest.
Miguel Marques was born on March 8, 2006, in Prince Georgem B.C. The young Canadian first jumped on NHL scouting radars after being selected 10th overall in the 2021 WHL Bantam draft. From there, he got his first taste of WHL action in the 2021–22 season and has since become a regular fixture for his Lethbridge-based team.
The forward is also no stranger to the Canadian maple leaf, having helped Canada White win the U17 World Hockey Championship in the 2022–23 season.
This past season, the 5’11” forward has played a crucial top-six role for the 33–28–7 Lethbridge Hurricanes, being a pivotal chance generator and offensive contributor on the team.
Marques plays at both the wing and centre, where he maintains a playmaker’s game with high-end passing plays, good on-ice vision, and a dangerous shot.
Marques’ strengths
Puck skills
Marques displays high-end puck skills as a capable facilitator with smooth passing plays, deception, and offensive instincts.
The Hurricanes forward provides decent play support with good cycles, quick passes in established zone play, and decent puck handling that can keep plays alive for longer than they naturally should. Tape-to-tape passes are regular for Marques.
In zone play and, to a lesser extent, transitional play, Marques displays good pass option identification and matches this with good short and long passing, making him a constant threat whenever he is on the ice in high-stakes situations, as he also displays offensive poise.
The 5’11” forward is able to manipulate defenders with fakes and dekes that make defencemen bite. He particularly has the ability to dish out passes just as his team is entering the offensive zone, which goes from a low pace to the high-speed pace of his teammate, adding slight deception to his transitional game.
Vision
Marques is a threat because of his vision. He has high-end play anticipation, awareness, the ability to see through layers, and is a certified chance generator.
The on-ice vision displayed by Marques means he is able to identify when exactly to pressure or move plays forward.
Meaning on the defensive end he can pick off passes regularly, which also demonstrates above-average spatial awareness as he can both create and block lanes. In addition, this spatial awareness allows for offensive slip passes, backhand passes, and overall higher-skill plays.
His creativity with the puck is second to none on his team. He can see through layers of open shooting lanes, create cross-crease plays, rebound shots, and set up teammates perfectly.
His spatial awareness and creativity allow him prime chance generation for his teammates with quality centering passes or tick-tack passes that often end up in the back of the net.
Shooting
Marques is a dual threat, just as likely to shoot as to pass. This dual threat comes from his ability to deceive defenders, move them out of shot lanes, and then make them regret it with his notably quick release or high-end toe drag. His shot is best utilized in established zone play like a power play.
His shooting can fool goalies, as he generally does have decent shot selection and finishing ability. However, one area that does need work is shot placement and his shot accuracy of 52%.
Marques’ areas of improvement
Skating
Simply put, Marques is a stationary threat. He struggles greatly in transitional play, and that is largely due to his skating. He shows okay edgework but lacks power and posture and has a low pace of play.
This lack of power comes largely from an absence of crossovers in his game, which in turn generate limited lateral speed. Often this speed results in him quickly passing the puck away in transition, often limiting his effectiveness as a transitional asset.
The posture of the 5’11” forward is slightly problematic. He displays limited ankle flection, decreasing his skating leverage and making him exclusively a lateral threat without notable agility.
His posture and pace of play also struggle largely due to the Prince George product’s overreliance on gliding. Be it on a rush or when handling, it is likely that the Hurricanes forward is not generating acceleration, but rather gliding into play.
Consistency
Marques has been a bit flaky this past season, as his compete level, motor, and physicality are all elements that excel in one game and become nonexistent in the next.
Earlier games in the season, Marques was a machine that forced mistakes and generated plays with a notable motor that blocked lanes and pressured opponents.
As the season went on, there was a lack of compete level, as he was more regularly found high in the defensive zone, inactive in the play, or merely waiting at the blue line in transitional play.
There is a somewhat notable risk of him becoming a play passenger both in terms of adding to the play directly and physicality/off-puck play. Noted by both his low 0.4 hits per game and puck battle winning percentage sitting at 42% for 2023–24.
Other areas of improvement include his risk assessment leading to blind centering passes, or forcing him to dump and chase.
Potential
As it stands, if everything goes right, Marques could be a quality middle-six forward.
Comparables
An NHL comparable would be that of Jordan Eberle, with a hint of Jaden Schwartz.
Fit With the Flames
Marques would likely be serving as a power play option on the first unit as both a facilitating and shooting threat, with a middle-six role to start out with.
Summary
Risk: 3.5/5
There is a notable risk, as Marques is not as surefire of a prospect as other players that have been highlighted in this series. His compete level and skating are two major issues (but not insurmountable ones) that he will need to fix to take steps forward if he is to be an NHL regular.
Reward: 3.5/5
For any team that is in desperate need of soft skills, Marques would be a no-brainer asset.
Check out all of The Win Column’s individual player profiles of selected 2024 NHL Draft prospects:
Macklin Celebrini | Ivan Demidov | Artyom Levshunov | Sam Dickinson | Cayden Lindstrom | Berkly Catton | Cole Eiserman | Zeev Buium | Konsta Helenius | Zayne Parekh | Carter Yakemchuk | Anton Silayev | Tij Iginla | Adam Jiricek | Michael Brandsegg-Nygard | Liam Greentree | Igor Chernyshov | Trevor Connelly | Aron Kiviharju | Michael Hage | Ryder Ritchie | Sacha Boisvert | Nikita Artamonov | Maxim Masse | Cole Hutson | Beckett Sennecke | Dominik Badinka | Emil Hemming | Henry Mews | Terik Parascak | Alfons Freij | Charlie Elick | EJ Emery | John Mustard | Luka Misa | Tanner Howe | Lucas Pettersson | Matvei Gridin | Dean Letourneau | Leo Sahlin Wallenius | Jesse Pulkkinen | Cole Beaudoin | Kamil Bednarik | Jett Luchanko | Andrew Basha | Stian Solberg | Adam Jecho | Matvei Shuravin | Veeti Vaisanen
