5. Cam Squires
Cape Breton Eagles
Cam Squires is a player to watch because he has all the tools, but he had an interestingly quiet first half. We are starting to see evidence that an explosion is coming. After putting up 72 points last season with 33 goals, many thought Squires would roll over the league. It’s complicated with Cape Breton having one of the more inexperienced rosters in the QMJHL (only one other player on the team has been drafted), Squires is still on a six-game points streak as of this writing. He has 14 goals and 27 assists.
This is year four in the QMJHL for Squires. So often, players explode for more than 100 points in that year. We’ve seen it time and time again, and it doesn’t necessarily equate to NHL success. It’s just a player hitting close to his physical peak while the rest of the league remains in their teenage years.
We expect Squires to have a dominant second half, which will build his confidence when he joins the Devils full time next season. He did get an assist this preseason, as the Devils had extended training camp participation with the team heading to Czechia.
We’re not entirely sure where Squires fits long-term, and there’s a non-zero chance that this goes the other way (similar to what happened to Josh Filmon, who is now in the ECHL), but it’s worth watching to see if Squires can eventually be an offensive contributor to New Jersey.