KELOWNA, B.C. — When Chicoutimi Saguenéens head coach and general manager Yanick Jean made his trade deadline preparations ahead of a run at the QMJHL title earlier this season, he knew he wanted to make sure he had two No. 1 goalies.Chicoutimi’s 19-year-old netminder, Raphaël Précourt, had undergone offseason surgery, and he felt he needed to be prepared if another injury happened.After discussing the options with goalie coach Alex Carrier, they decided “we might as well try and go get the best.”The best, in both of their views, was Baie-Comeau Drakkar goalie and Ottawa Senators fourth-round pick Lucas Beckman.Carrier had seen it firsthand when he coached against him in minor hockey, and they’d both seen it 10 or so times a year with the Saguenéens because at three and a half hours away, Chicoutimi is one of Baie-Comeau’s closest opponents.“Many times when we’ve played against him, he played very good, and he was the best player in the team for Baie-Comeau,” Carrier said. “He can change the game himself.”Even though he was only 18, Jean felt Beckman had a lot of experience, plus he’d played “some unreal games against us” and had proven himself on Chicoutimi’s larger ice surface.“It was a no-brainer for us,” Jean said.Five months after acquiring him for a package that included two players, a 2028 first-round pick and a 2026 second-round pick, Beckman, Jean and Carrier stood on home ice at Centre Georges-Vézina, and as Beckman handed the QMJHL championship trophy to Carrier, he told him, “Alex, we need one more cup now, we need the Memorial Cup.”As Carrier re-tells that story, he shakes his head.“Just two minutes before he stopped the last shot in the game and we win the cup, and he’s already thinking about the next step,” Carrier said. “It’s never enough for him. He told me he wants to be a Hall of Famer in the NHL, it’s like ‘holy s—.’ He’s very special. Very special. He’s like an artist.”That artist set a goal for this season to be the best goalie in the QMJHJL and, after battling mononucleosis with Baie-Comeau in the fall, has posted a combined regular-season, playoff and Memorial Cup record with Chicoutimi of 30-7 — including nine shutouts — through the winter and spring. After the trade, he had a .940 save percentage in the regular season and then a .918 save percentage in the playoffs.“I was able to really dominate, and at the end of the day I won the championship, so I’d say I did it,” he told The Athletic of his first goal.He’s a long way from the Hockey Hall of Fame, but through 131 career QMJHL games, his career save percentage is .917. In April, the Senators, less than 10 months after selecting him with the No. 97 pick in the 2025 NHL Draft, signed him.Now his goalposts have moved: After a Memorial Cup, he wants to return to the QMJHL next season, “dominate even more” and win a gold medal with the Canadian World Junior team.