Simon Bourque

April 2020 – Bourque’s pro career dwindled quickly after once being a highly touted prospect in the Canadiens’ system. After a brief stint playing for Concordia’s university team, he is now playing professionally in the LNAH. It would appear his playing days in the NHL are slim to none at this point. Jamie Zadow

June 2018 – Bourque has been traded from the Montreal Canadiens to the Winnipeg Jets as part of a salary dump trade that saw Steve Mason and Joel Armia being shipped back to Montreal. Jokke Nevalainen

January 2017 – Bourque has been traded from Rimouski to Saint John as another move in what has been a very active QMJHL trade period. Along with Bourque, the Sea Dogs have bolstered their lineup recently with the acquisition of two Carolina Hurricane prospects in Callum Booth,  and first-round sniper Julien Gauthier. Saint John clearly has the intent of making a championship run as they are already a top-ten CHL squad, and Bourque’s addition should benefit both parties greatly. This puts the Canadiens prospect in a prime position to set career-highs across the board (28 points in 29 games) while gaining priceless experience in pursuit of a QMJHL championship and Memorial Cup. Mike Barrett

September 2016 – Simon Bourque was sent back down to his junior club, as the Canadiens rookie camp came to a close, and NHL training camp is set to begin. Rimouski’s captain will join his teammates just in time to kick the season off against Baie-Comeau in a back-to-back road affair in what will be the defenseman’s final CHL season. He’ll aim to hit the 50 point mark and finish with a positive rating as he anchors Rimouski’s blueline for another year. Mike Barrett

May 2016 – Entering the season as an assistant, Bourque was promoted to captain in early January once the job was vacated by Anthony Chapandos in a mid-season trade. His 12 goals and 46 points were a slight improvement over his 10 goals and 38 point 2014-15 campaign, but his minus-three rating was a far cry from his plus-27 of a year ago. If you take into consideration that the Oceanic weren’t as strong as they’ve normally been recently, and that their lead defenseman plays some real heavy minutes the swing is understandable.

The former 25^th overall (second round) pick in the QMJHL draft was considered a steal for the Canadiens, nabbing the hometown kid in the 6^th round of the 2015 NHL Entry Draft after a successful start to his junior career. 

Simply put, the 6-1 rearguard is a naturally gifted skater. He’s a technical player who has the mind and athletic ability to make plays in all situations, and more importantly continue to develop as a hockey player. He’s silky-smooth with the puck and rarely makes a bad decision. The same can be said about his positioning.

Habs management must be satisfied with the way he has developed to this point, as he even got games in at the AHL level upon Rimouski’s elimination (somewhat of a rarity for players who still have a year left of CHL eligibility) and you have yourselves a  legitimate NHL prospect.  Michael Barrett