DRAFTING POSSIBILITIES
Screaming Eagles have plenty of picks entering draft
It’s that time of year again when the QMJHL draft begins.
Cape Breton Screaming Eagles fans won’t have to wait too much longer to know, at least the names, of the next generation of players for the local major junior team.
The annual Quebec Major Junior Hockey League Entry Draft will take place today at Harbour Station in Saint John, N.B. The Screaming Eagles enter the 14-round draft with 13 draft choices, including two first-round picks at No. 14 and No. 15 overall.
Marc-André Dumont, Screaming Eagles head coach and general manager, said the league’s entry draft is an exciting day for the team and the scouts.
“We want to continue to build our team with players that fit that profile that we require to wear the Screaming Eagles jersey,” said Dumont. “Our scouts have travelled thousands of kilometres and spent countless hours to prepare for the draft – the draft is a result of months of work and we’re looking forward to seeing the next generation of Screaming Eagles players.”
Last year, the Screaming Eagles drafted 15 players at the league’s entry draft in Charlottetown, including selecting goaltender Kevin Mandolese with the team’s first-round selection at No. 13 overall.
With the team currently having two first-round picks, Dumont isn’t ruling anything out.
“It’s possible we draft both, it’s possible we trade both, it’s possible it’s in-between, anything that makes sense in our plan of developing this team to become the strongest team possible,” said Dumont when asked if he planned to keep both first-round picks. “We don’t want to shove anything off the table, any option
and angle has to be looked at and it’s going to be a decision we make when things are presented to us, but we are ready to pick both.”
After round one, the team will make two selections in the second-round (No. 21 and No. 27), followed by a third-round pick at No. 54 overall. The club will also have picks in round five, eight, nine and two picks in round 11, followed by single picks in rounds 12, 13 and 14.
The Screaming Eagles are expected to acquire another second-round pick during the draft from the Chicoutimi Saguenéens to finalize the compensation for Alexandre Ranger, a player the team acquired in 2015, but never played for the team after signing a pro contract with the Norfolk Admirals of the East Coast Hockey League.
Dumont said the team will select the best players available when they make their selections in the first two rounds.
“We always do that in the first two rounds, whatever the position is, if we feel that the best player is that one, he’s the one we’re going to pick,” he said. “Overall in the draft we want a good balance between goaltenders, defencemen and forwards in regards to our depth charts – we want to have a certain balance once the 14th round is over … but in the first couple of rounds, we go with our scouts evaluation that this guy is the best hockey player available and that’s the guy we go for.”
Aside from the entry draft, the QMJHL trade period opened Friday morning with a total of 12 trades completed. Among the teams involved in a deal were the Screaming Eagles.
Cape Breton traded the team’s fourth-round pick, No. 67 overall, originally acquired from Charlottetown, to the Gatineau Olympiques in exchanged for a third-round pick at the 2018 QMJHL Entry Draft.
“It’s banking a pick for next year,” said Dumont. “Gatineau was shopping around for a fourth-round pick in exchange for a third next year and we felt that it was an opportunity for us to bank a pick next year in an early round.”
Despite rumours of the team acquiring Joël Teasdale from the Blainville-Boisbriand Armada to finalize the PierreLuc Dubois deal, Dumont shot down the rumours, confirming the team won’t be acquiring the 17-year-old forward.
Dumont said if Dubois, a third overall pick by the NHL’s Columbus Blue Jackets, plays in the QMJHL next season, the Screaming Eagles would acquire a first-round pick from the Armada in the 2019 QMJHL Entry Draft, finalizing the trade.
As for other trades, Dumont said his phone is always on.
“It rings all year long,” he said. “Trade periods are the ultimate result of discussions that happen throughout the year. General managers I tend to keep in touch with talk about players and opportunities.”
“We are in a perfect situation where right now we have no obligation to move (picks) and we can go through the draft and just pick at our ranking, and that suits us because we’re ready to draft,” said Dumont. “If things are presented to us that makes sense, we’ll definitely analyze them and take it from there.”
Meanwhile, aside from the
Screaming Eagles, a number of local hockey players are eligible for this year’s QMJHL Entry Draft.
Eskasoni’s Jacob Denny of the Cape Breton Unionized Tradesmen is the top-ranked Cape Breton player for the draft. Denny is ranked No. 70 overall by QMJHL Central Scouting.
Other players eligible for the draft include Logan Chisholm (No. 35 - Cape Breton West/ Upper Pomquet) and Jacob Stewart (No. 56 – Cape Breton West/Antigonish). In rounds 6-8, Tyler Mortimer (Tradesmen) and Sean Stewart (Cape Breton West) are ranked, while in rounds 9-12 Tytan Donovan (Tradesmen) and Jack Morris (Cape Breton West) are also ranked.
Malcolm MacEachern, Liam MacKinnon, Calum MacPherson and Ewan McDonald, all from the Cape Breton West Islanders, are listed as eligible players for the draft.
The Quebec Major Junior Hockey League Entry Draft will begin at 10 a.m.