Blues prospect Justin Carbonneau made a big decision that fans weren't expecting

On Friday, the Blainville-Broisbriand Armada of the QMJHL announced that recent Blues draftee Justin Carbonneau will be making his return to the club for the 2025-26 season.

Carbonneau had an offer at Boston College to play hockey in the NCAA and show off his skills against a higher level of competition, but ultimately decided to stay and dominate the Q. What does this mean for Carbo as a prospect?

Playing time and upside

While the NCAA is a much higher level of competition than the QMJHL, that does not mean it is the only path to proving one's caliber as a prospect.

Justin Carbonneau is a young skater with a lot of upside, but is still very raw as a prospect. This means there are a lot of areas of his game that are not as consistent or refined as they could be. Playing in a tougher league while still trying to work on mechanics might be too big of an ask to make, which could be one reason Carbo chose the Q.

Another reason is a clear path to playing time. Boston College has a talented hockey roster, so the minutes for Carbonneau to develop and show his skills were not guaranteed versus with the Armada. Deciding to play in the Q guarantees Carbonneau the biggest role on his team meaning lots of ice time, valuable time where he can still develop his mechanics and show off his impressive hockey ability in the junior league.

Furthermore, Carbonneau has more to think about than just his next game, now that he's been drafted by the St. Louis Blues. Choosing to reject the NCAA offer has one more added benefit to his prospect status.

Path to the NHL

Justin Carbonneau is eligible to sign a two-way contract with the Blues, meaning they could call him up at any point. Following Doug Armstrong's comments after the development camp, it sounded like the Blues organization was very impressed with Carbonneau's performance and said he could compete for a roster spot right now.

Playing in the QMJHL gives him the flexibility to go back and forth between the NHL and his junior league if he does truly excel. In the NCAA, he would have had to wait for Boston College's season to end, but now he can be utilized as an injury call-up or potentially as a starter in his own right.

Furthermore, this gives Carbonneau the chance to show off his skills again at the Blues training camp before the preseason begins. He is eligible and expected to be at training camp now that his roster decision is set.

This decision may have been made solely off the training camp opportunity, for that will be his real chance to crack the NHL roster and prove he's ready for NHL ice. If his biggest priority is to make the team with the Blues as soon as possible, then it makes all the sense in the world why Carbonneau chose to return to the Armada.

Either way, the decision is set, and Blues fans should look for and expect another season of dominance from the young and ascending forward.