- Kraken Selection: 3rd Round, 2024
- Position: Defense
- Junior Team & League: Baie-Comeau, QMJHL
- Height & Weight: 6-1, 189 lbs
- 2023-24 Stats: 67 games, 4 goals, 31 points
Alexis Bernier, says The Hockey News, “can defend in all-three ways: playing the body, using his stick to swat pucks or even boxing out guys positionally. He not only helps with retrievals but also in moving the puck up the ice as well.”
As a native of Saint-Valérien, Quebec, French is his native language. Unless you speak the language, you probably missed most of what he said on Draft day in Las Vegas. Here’s the translation, in which Bernier talks about three teammates also getting drafted.
“To experience this with Justin (Poirier, taken by Carolina), Raoul (Boilard, by NYR), and Matyas (Melovsky, by New Jersey), it’s just special for us. Honestly, it’s really not a competition. We’re all happy for each other. It’s an honor to be the first Quebec defender chosen. There are a lot of good defenders here.
“As I said, it’s a ranking, it’s no guarantee of the future. But it’s definitely something I’m proud of. I wasn’t always invited to (try out for) Hockey Quebec, Hockey Canada, all those things. So I think it’s just an example that if you work hard, anything’s possible.”
In English, Bernier gave a self-scouting report. That, along with his role models, are in this Kraken Reaction.