Moose Jaw Warriors’ Eric Alarie – an elite 2021 NHL Draft prospect to look out for
MOOSE JAW, Saskatchewan — Born on 27th January 2003 in Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada to two educators, Richard Alarie and Danielle de Moissac, Eric Alarie is a young man best described as “driven.”
According to Eric’s father, he started playing hockey when he was four years old, while football came later at the age of seven. Between the ages of 7 to 14, Alarie played in the St. Vital Mustangs program as a linebacker, punter, and kicker. At 12 and 13 years old respectively, he led two championship teams to provincial peewee titles by leading the defense. His head coach at the time, Paul Weekes, describes him as a quiet, intense, very focused, and very physical player who played both football and hockey very well.
The 6’1″ (185 cm) 198 lb (89 kg) left-wing forward is a scoring winger in the major Western Hockey League junior ice hockey team, Moose Jaw Warriors. He just finished playing 19 games in the last season where he showcased his offensive scoring ability and topped his previous career highs with 10 goals, 10 assists, and 20 points. Thus, the left shooter has earned a place as the 51st skater in North America and 71st player in McKeen’s Hockey draft.
Eric Alarie is known to do some quick shoulder-checks before he touches the puck. Hardly ever stationary, he quickly figures out his threats and courses of action before establishing body positioning. This helps to play between checks, finish his off-puck routes, continue to pass lanes open using artful bumps and stick lifts. The bilingual knows how to use his tenacity to score.
In 2019, the Western Hockey League recognized Eric as one of the Academic Achievers because of his ability to balance his educational programs with WHL obligations without compromising his results in both. The independent self-starter enrolled at Vanier Collegiate Institute, to take courses in History, Physical Science, and Career Life Work. This student-athlete, who was in Grade 11 at the time, went ahead to record 10 points in 27 games in the 2018-2019 WHL Regular Season.
Interestingly, he has a makeshift shooting gallery in his backyard where he fires not less than 200 shots every day. There’s also a setup downstairs equipped with orange 10-ounce pucks where he plays during winter. Pushing himself so hard both on-ice and off-ice has armed him with a combative playing style and a powerful release that has caught the eye of NHL talent evaluators for this year’s draft.
Alarie is physically fit for his age, teachable, and has excellent motor ability. His strong game, skill set, playing style, and hard work have made him eligible for the NHL draft position. With an offense potential and defense potential, the 18-year old NHL potential is likely to become this year’s draft mid-to-late round pick. He would fit into different roles as a penalty killer, bottom-six power forward, defender, and an occasional net-front player.
When the NHL scouting team asked him for an honest self-evaluation in a pre-draft call, Alarie stated his mobility as a weakness he is working on. He plans to improve his defensive game in the coming years as a way of working on this weakness. His coach, O’Leary believes that Alarie has excellent straight-line speed but needs to work more on his agility. As someone who accepts both negative and positive feedback, Alarie has taken note of his weaknesses and works hard every summer to get better mobility.
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