The Detroit Red Wings aren’t picking anyone ready to excel with their big club in the 2025 NHL Draft, but there’s one prospect slated to go in the middle of the first round, at least per Tankathon, who could be NHL ready sooner than later.
And for a few reasons. For one, he already has ideal size, at 6’1, 192 lbs, despite being just over 18 and a half years old. He’s a right-shot player who projects as a pure winger at the NHL level, and who’s spent the last three seasons in the QMJHL putting up better-than-average numbers before breaking out in 2024-25.
That said, Justin Carbonneau would be a steal if he fell past 10th overall and landed in the Red Wings lap. I mean, Carter Bear is a player I’d be more than okay with, and the same would go if they ended up with Ben Kindel, even if he may be a reach. But Justin Carbonneau? Now, we’re talking.
Justin Carbonneau would be a godsend for the Detroit Red Wings
For one, Justin Carbonneau’s only obligated to play one more season in the QMJHL, so he can kickstart his development in the pro ranks earlier, arriving in the AHL for the 2026-27 season. And for another, he’s already crushing it in juniors, with 89 points and 46 goals (43 assists) in 62 games.
This is coming off a season in which he put up 59 points and 31 goals in 68 games, and in 2022-23, Carbonneau had a respectable 20 points and five goals in 32 games. All of this shows steady improvement, and a ‘sky’s the limit’ season in 2025-26 for the Blainville Boisbriand Armada.
What makes Carbonneau so dangerous? If you watch his highlight reel (link in the top section), he’s got such a fast release when shooting the puck it’s no wonder he found the net 46 times this year. His stickhandling’s methodic, and it lets him skate through a horde of opponents like it’s nothing. That also means he’s a slick skater, with pristine agility.
Where would Carbonneau fit with the Red Wings if drafted?
Expect him in Grand Rapids for the 2026-27 season, where he’d spend a year or two. But if Carbonneau keeps playing to his strengths in the QMJHL again this year, and he can translate it to the AHL, he’ll be NHL-ready within three seasons, tops.
While Tankathon has him falling to 16th overall to the Montreal Canadiens as I write this, he’s one player who I can see a team reaching for and be thoroughly unsurprised. He’s got too much skill and way too much productivity to go any lower than 16th, and I even see him as a steal if he fell to 13th and Steve Yzerman drafted him.