Article Credit: Kris McDavid
Photo: @DanielMoody11

Daniel Moody’s stock is very much on the rise these days.

And the 18-year-old goaltender from Blackville manning the crease in the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League’s Drummondville Voltigeurs is grabbing the attention of National Hockey League scouts as well.

Moody, who came up through the local minor hockey system and was a standout with the Miramichi Rivermen at the major midget level, has cracked the midterm NHL Central Scouting list for North American goaltenders in advance of the 2018 entry draft.

The six-foot-two, 162-pound netminder is slotted in as the 21st best draft-eligible goalie in the entire continent, one of eight QMJHL goaltenders to make the list, one that includes – as it turns out – his Drummondville crease mate Olivier Rodrigue, who sits at No. 2.

Moody’s definitely earned that type of recognition this season after coming over to the Voltigeurs from the Victoriaville Tigres and earning his spot on the team out of training camp last summer.

Despite serving as Rodrigue’s backup this season on a Volts team that sits second overall in the Q-League’s West Division, Moody has made the most of his playing time.

He picked up his first major junior shutout back on Jan. 13 in a 5-0 blanking of the Val-D’or Foreurs at the Centre Marcel Dionne, finishing with 17 saves and his eighth victory in 11 starts this season.

In 12 games and 626 minutes of action this season, Moody has posted a 3.74 goals against average and a .855 save percentage while averaging just under 26 shots per game.

He’s on track to finish the regular season among the only rookie goaltenders in Voltigeurs franchise history to have spent the entire season with the club, joining exclusive company that includes former NHLer Frederic Chabot.

Moody is also tied for eighth all-time on the franchise list for most consecutive wins to start a season, with four, and is one back of fellow Miramichier Nathan Dunnett on that list.

An eighth-round pick in the 2016 QMJHL draft, Moody spent two full seasons at the major midget level with the Rivermen and parts of three.

He blossomed into one of the top goaltenders in the league in 2016-17, which would turn out to be the last season for the Rivermen as a franchise, after posting the fourth-best save percentage on a losing Miramichi team.

His head coach in Drummondville is Dominique Ducharme, who is fresh off coaching Team Canada to a 2018 world junior hockey championship gold medal in Buffalo and led the 2012-13 Halifax Mooseheads to a league championship.

Moody’s goaltending coach in Drummondville is Olivier Michaud, a former Team Canada world junior goaltender back in 2003 who spent five seasons in the American Hockey League and the East Coast Hockey League.

The early North American goaltender rankings are headed up by Mooseheads’ standout Alexis Gravel.