Future superstar up for grabs
QMJHL Draft in Saint John on Saturday
The off-season has barely started for the President’s Cup champion Saint John Sea Dogs, but this weekend they’ll host 17 other teams waiting to take their spot atop the league.
Saturday marks the league’s annual entry draft. While the Sea Dogs will host the event at Harbour Station, the real focus begins with the RimouskI Oceanic and Alexis Lafreniere. Rimouski squeaked into the post-season only to be swept by Saint John, but the Oceanic were winners in the first-ever expanded draft lottery. Previously the QMJHL only allowed its two non-playoff teams an opportunity to win the top pick, but in the first year of the expanded lottery the Saint Lawrence club earned the right to nab the future superstar.
Lafreniere led the Québec midget league in scoring while skating for St-Eustache, playing against players two years his senior, with a whopping 83 points in 36 games. He’s been described as a franchise-altering player, with exceptional offensive skills and hockey intelligence.
Ranked second is Collège Esther-Blondin Phénix forward Samuel Poulin, son of former NHLer Patrick Poulin. The younger Poulin already stands at six feet, and brings a wellrounded skill game. Currently the second choice belongs to Sherbrooke, where Samuel’s brother Nicholas skated the last three years and could play as an overager again this fall.
Rounding out the trio of topranked forwards is Séminaire St-François Blizzard’s Jakob Pelletier, a small but speedy and versatile player who produced over a point a game at the Telus Cup (the national midget championship) this year. Currently the third selection belongs to the Moncton Wildcats.
It’s a critical off-season for the Wildcats, who won just a single game in 2017 and then were dealt a big blow by falling to third via the lottery. But Pelletier is still a highly coveted player and Baie-Comeau Drakkar general manager Steve Ahern has been public that his team has made offers to the Cats for the third choice. For his part Moncton director of hockey operations Roger Shannon has been been vocal about the need for substantial changes on his team’s roster.
Prior to the draft, the league’s spring trading period will open up Friday and as is usually the case rumours are already swirling through the circuit. Speculation in New Brunswick would see a big swap between the Wildcats and rival Bathurst Titan. Saint John is expected to ship 20-year-old forward Samuel Dove-McFalls to Rimouski to complete the deal that saw Simon Bourque move to the Sea Dogs this past winter. DoveMcFalls appears to have gone unsigned by the Philadelphia Flyers and should be a top overager in the QMJHL in 2017-18.
Of course fans in Cape Breton are anxiously waiting to see if there is anymore to the deal that sent start forward Pierre-Luc Dubois to Blainville-Boisbriand. If a pick was to be sent to the Armada it would be a welcome acquisition as currently Blainville only holds one pick in the first four rounds. Meanwhile the Screaming Eagles have plenty of options to determine their future, able to return 17 players from last season and holding with four picks in the opening two rounds, including choices 14 and 15. There is also an interesting scenario developing in goal for the Eagles as prospect Colten Ellis backstopped the Cape Breton West Islanders to the Telus Cup, and could push Kyle Jessiman and Kevin Mandolese for playing time.
Other squads to keep an eye on Saturday are Drummondville (eight picks in the first four rounds, with selections 7 and 8), Val-d’Or (four choices in the opening two rounds including picks 5 and 17) and Rimouski, who are scheduled at slots 10 and 12 in addition to the top choice. Baie-Comeau (6 & 9), Moncton (3 and 16), and Sherbrooke (2 and 11) will also all pick twice in the opening round. There won’t be much action from the host team, however, as Saint John isn’t scheduled to appear at the podium until the 54th choice.
Closer to home, 10 players who plied in their trade with Cape Breton midget clubs are eligible to be selected, with seven Cape Breton West Islanders and three members of the Cape Breton Tradesmen on the board. The highest-ranked Cape Bretoner is Jacob Denny. The Eskasoni product is listed at No. 70 by the Central Scouting Report after collecting 26 points in 35 games for the Tradesmen in 2016-17.
Denny, along with 252 other prospects, will know a lot more about where their future lies come Saturday, when the draft begins at 10 a.m.