Joaquim Lemay: 2024 Annual Review And Forecast


With the end of the 2023-24 NHL season, it’s time for our annual prospect review and forecast series for the past season. We begin our reviews with Joaquim “Jo” Lemay, defenseman for the Nebraska-Omaha Mavericks, who is transferring to Northeastern. (You can access all our Capitals Prospect Reports and player analysis on our “Prospects” page here.)

VITALS

Lemay, 21, is a 6’-1” left-handed defenseman from St-Pierre-les-Becquets, Quebec. The Capitals selected Lemay in the fourth round (119th overall) of the 2021 NHL Entry Draft. He was the only player selected in the 2021 NHL Entry Draft from the BCHL and remains unsigned by the Capitals.

CAREER SUMMARY

Lemay was a relatively late bloomer, who didn’t follow the conventional path that elite Quebec hockey players typically follow, playing for Estacades de Trois-Rivières in the famous midget AAA league. Instead, Lemay played for St. Joseph’s Seminary in the School Development Hockey League (LHPS) until he was 16 and moved to the United States to play for Mount St Charles Academy. After that, he moved to the British Columbia Hockey League (BCHL) to play with the Salmon Arm Silverbacks.

Lemay’s 2020-21 season with the Silverbacks was a six-week “Pod” season due to the pandemic. Lemay played in 15 games and recorded 10 points, all assists. The 10 assists ranked second among rookies playing in the league. During the extended training camp, Lemay scored one goal and five assists in 13 games.

Lemay is the first player the Capitals have selected from the BCHL since they drafted defenseman Keith Seabrook in the second round of the 2006 draft, who played with the Burnaby Express. If Lemay plays for the Capitals, he will join fellow notable BCHL alumni Ryan Walter, Joe Murphy, and Justin Schultz, among others.

Lemay was named an alternate team captain for the Lincoln Stars to start the 2021-22 season and was named the defensive player of the week on October 13. Lemay began the season on the top pairing but was relegated to the 3LW position by the 6th game of the season and played a majority of the final games of the season on the right side of the second pairing. Offensively, he recorded nine goals and 37 assists in 58 regular season games and added two assists in three postseason games.

The 2022-23 season was Lemay’s freshman year at Nebraska-Omaha. Except for missing time with a mid-season injury, Lemay was a stalwart on the Mavericks blueline, playing in 32 out of the team’s 37 games. He scored two goals, recorded 10 assists, made 35 shots on goal, and blocked 20 shots. He was named to the 2022-23 All-Rookie Team for the National Collegiate Hockey Conference (NCHC).

The 2023-24 season was Lemay’s sophomore year at Nebraska-Omaha. He played in 37 of the team’s 40 games, missing time from late October through early November. He had a much better season, offensively as a sophomore than as a freshman. He scored five goals, recorded 13 assists for 18 points overall, made 66 shots on goal, and blocked 22 shots. He ranked eighth on the team in points overall and second in points among defensemen. He was named as the NCHC Defenseman of the Week twice this season.

2023-2024 MONTH-BY-MONTH RECAP AND TREND ANALYSIS

The following is a compilation of the month-by-month prospect reports for Jo Lemay during the 2023-2024 season. All monthly prospect reports can be accessed from our “Prospects” page in the top menu.

October

Lemay had a terrific weekend against the Niagara Purple Eagles on October 13 and 14. He had two points (one goal, one assist) on October 13 as Omaha came away with a dominating 8-1 win. He also had two shots on goal and five shot attempts. On October 14, the sophomore remained hot by scoring a power-play goal midway through the third period, which was the game-winner.

Lemay’s totals for October were two goals, and one assist in three games. He had seven shots on goal and three blocked shots.

Photo: Nikos Frazier: The World Herald

November

On November 11, Lemay scored the game-winning goal in overtime just 52 seconds into the extra session. He also had an assist in the same game.  His performance for the weekend allowed him to be named the NCHC Defenseman of the Week.

On November 19, with just three seconds to go in the second period and the Mavericks nursing a 3-2 lead, Lemay found a rebound and buried it giving the Mavericks a 4-2 lead. This goal was the game-winner as the Mavericks held on to their lead to beat Denver 4-3.

During November, he scored two goals and recorded 4 assists. He had 20 shots on goal and did not block any shots.

December

On December 1, against the Minnesota-Duluth Bulldogs, the sophomore blueliner had the primary assist on Jack Randl’s goal, which tied the game for the Mavericks shortly after the Bulldogs took a 2-1 lead 1:02 into the second period. However, Omaha ultimately lost 4-2.

That assist would be his only point for December. Overall, he played in four games that month, had one assist, made 7 shots on goal, and had 2 blocked shots.

January

January was a quiet month for Lemay, with regards to offensive production. He had no goals and no assists. He ended the month with an 11-game point drought. He had 11 shots on goal for the month in eight games and three blocked shots.

February

Lemay played in all six of his team’s games during February. He scored no goals but recorded an assist against Minnesota-Duluth on February 3. This broke his 11-game point drought that lasted through most of December and January.

Lemay recorded an assist during a 5-1 win on February 2 against Minnesota Duluth. His assist came at 5:36 on a short-handed goal by Jack Randl.

He recorded an assist during a 3-0 win on February 23 against Colorado College. He assisted on the team’s first goal which came at 16:30 into the first period, putting the team ahead 1-0.

His totals for February were no goals, 2 assists, 11 shots on goal, and 7 blocked shots in 6 games.

March

To close out the regular season, Lemay had secondary assists on goals in three of the last four games of the season, which were all wins for Omaha.

His regular season totals for March were three assists, seven shots on goal, and three blocked shots.

The Mavericks played Colorado College in the National Collegiate Hockey Conference (NCHC) Quarterfinals from March 15 through 17. They lost the first game of the series, 4-3 but rebounded to take the remaining two games from Colorado to advance to the NCHC Semifinals against North Dakota on March 22, which they also won. They lost to Denver in the NCHC Finals.

Omaha-Nebraska advanced to the NCAA Sioux Falls Regional on March 28 to play the Minnesota Golden Gophers on March 28. Lemay scored a power-play goal at 1:51 into the second period to put the Mavericks up 1-0, a goal scored while Ryan Chesley of Minnesota served a five-minute major penalty for contact to the head.

Lemay also had the secondary assist on Omaha’s second goal which came at 4:28 in the third period and put the team ahead 2-1. The Mavericks ultimately lost 3-2 as the Golden Gophers scored two goals during the third period. This ended the Mavericks’ season.

For the playoffs, Lemay played in six games, scored one goal, and had two assists.  He had three shots on goal and blocked four shots.

For the season, he played in 37 of the team’s 40 games, scored 5 goals, and recorded 13 assists. Three of his goals were game-winners. He had 66 shots on goal and 22 blocked shots. He had 18 penalty minutes.

PLAYER FORECAST

Lemay’s sophomore season went well, overall, as he had more goals and points this season than last and was named NCHC Defenseman of the Week on two occasions. His offensive production was better in the early part of the season.

Lemay entered the Transfer Portal after the season and is transferring to Northwestern University for his junior year. He is expected to play in the second pairing for Northeastern University and be part of one of their power play units.

By Diane Doyle





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