Picard, a 6’2″, 205-pound native of Gatineau, Quebec, saw regular duty for the Mooseheads in the 2002-2003 regular season. Picard’s awareness at both ends of the ice aided him in playing regularly not only at even strength, but also in special teams situations on both the powerplay and penalty-killing units. There are few defensemen his age who are better at keeping the puck in the offensive zone. Whether it is jumping up against the glass to stop the puck, or diving headlong across the ice swatting at it with his stick, the little black disk will rarely slip past Picard at the line.
When he decides to use it, Picard’s shot is one of the hardest of the QMJHL draft eligible players, and can be very accurate. The key phrase, however, is “when he decides to use it”, as Picard chooses to pass much more often than he shoots. His apparent unwillingness to shoot when given the opportunity, especially with the powerful shot he boasts in his arsenal, can be remedied with improved confidence in the zone, and should come around in time. Though his passes are crisp and generally on the mark, he needs to shoot a bit more, in particular when there is traffic in front of the net.
On the defensive end, Picard is rarely out of position. Without the puck, he is very sound. He is strong at blocking up the passing lanes, and preventing the easy scoring chance. He could do a better job at tying up his man in front of and behind the net, but this is not a serious flaw in his game. His strong defensive positioning is also evident when the opposition is on the rush, as he almost always keeps the puck carrier to the outside, driving him deep into the corner rather than allowing him to carry the puck into the slot.
Picard’s biggest sophomore weakness was actually one of the rookie strengths that had him rated so high for the NHL Entry Draft at this time last season. His physical game, which was one of his biggest strengths in his first year in the QMJHL, actually seemed to regress as the season progressed. In his rookie year, few and far between were the shifts where Picard did not throw a heavy hit in the defensive end. This year, it was vice versa, as there were few shifts that Picard actually threw a hit. In spite of his size, his physical game is not as prevalent as it was one year ago. This may be as a result of increased offensive and defensive duties, coupled with a fear of taking the stupid penalty (which, however, Picard has not been known to do, as he is very disciplined). Though he tends to keep players outside in the offensive zone due to strong positioning, he should still feel free to rub opposing players out along the boards when they try to get around him.
Another part of Picard’s game that has taken a hit this past season was his puck carrying in the neutral zone. He will occasionally get into trouble when he opts to carry the puck out of the defensive zone himself against the fore-check, instead of looking for the outlet pass. That has resulted in a couple of turnovers at inopportune times, with one such instance leading to an overtime goal for the opposition. In a hotly contested overtime match-up against the Val d’Or Foruers, Picard carried it out of the zone, cut towards the middle of the ice and lost the puck to a Foreurs player, who skated in unabated to score the overtime winner. Though this is a rare occurrence, this exact scenario has played out a few times this past year. One must remember, though, that Picard is only seventeen, and these mistakes are bound to happen, but are just more noticeable given his stellar rookie season.
Picard, who moves on to the Cape Breton Screaming Eagles for the 2003-2004 season as future considerations to a January trade between Halifax and Cape Breton, will receive increased ice time, while playing for a contender for the third straight season. It will be interesting to see if he can regain his physical play from his rookie season, to compliment his already strong offensive and defensive awareness.
Projection: Third round pick, two-way defenseman
Statistics:
| Season | Team | GP | G | A | P | PIM | Playoffs | GP | G | A | P | PIM |
| 2001-2002 | Halifax Mooseheads | 59 | 2 | 12 | 14 | 28 | 13 | 2 | 3 | 5 | 6 | |
| 2002-2003 | Halifax Mooseheads | 71 | 4 | 30 | 34 | 64 | 25 | 1 | 5 | 6 | 14 |
