2026 NHL Draft Mixtape 14: Xavier Villeneuve
Teammate of Penguins' prospect Bill Zonnon, Villeneuve is a skilled defenseman who is equal parts electrifying and polarizing.
I have to start this by saying that I am a big fan of Xavier Villeneuve’s raw skill. He’s the type of defenseman who draws you out of your seat at least once per night by pulling off some fluid skating maneuver or slick dangle. When it comes to puck manipulation and the ability to create with legs and mobility, there is a lot to like in this player.
You’ll hear a lot about size with Villeneuve, and that is fair. He’s listed at 5’11’’ and 161 pounds on Elite Prospects. That size is evident within his game and his approach to defending. I think one of my main knocks on Villeneuve is his gap in one-on-one situations. He often opts to sit to the side of an oncoming forward, offset by a foot or two. His primary move is to sweep his stick across the oncoming player. I assume this is because of his own concerns about his ability to physically handle oncoming traffic. He does use the body, but he’s more of an opportunistic hitter than someone who will lean on it defensively.
Villeneuve is also very active on zone exits and entries, and on activating in the defensive zone. It’s not uncommon to see him in the slot or posted up on the half-wall of the offensive zone. He reads plays well and sneaks into the back door with great regularity. I do think there’s a tendency to be a little overzealous in his want to contribute offensively; more discernment is needed in specific offensive zone scenarios.
Again, the skating is a true star of the show with this player. Villeneuve is very light on his feet, but powerful at the same time. He generates a great deal of burst but also shows strong lateral mobility and creative edgework. Make no mistake about it: his greatest defensive strength is his mobility; even if he can’t handle someone physically, they can rarely escape his legs. At the very least, he’s a persistent presence defensively.
What I get frustrated with, specifically in Villeneuve’s game, is the decision-making process, the unnecessary risk, and sometimes the confusing decisions he makes off-puck. There is no doubt he can cause turnovers with some of his possessions, but I can live with that from an offensive defenseman. Villeneuve sometimes wanders in the neutral zone, for lack of a better term. I think he sometimes makes commitments to plays that haven’t fully matriculated yet, and when they don’t work out as he predicted, he’s caught in a bad spot. Skating recovery is great in these situations, but the sort of aloofness he can sometimes have without the puck will be more profound at Boston College next year.
Overall, I am torn here. There is a lot of talent, a game that seems bespoke to the players' size, and some aspects that are downright confusing to watch. I would categorize this as a high-risk, high-reward pick, and a pretty classic case of it, at that.
I’ve seen Villeneuve ranked as high as five and as low as 39. That is a true representation of the variance in opinion regarding his game. Enjoy the video, where I think the skill and skating I discuss really shine through.