TRADE PERIOD OPENS
Screaming Eagles will ‘study’ trades when QMJHL trade period opens Monday
Annual QMJHL wheeling and dealing about to begin.
Cape Breton Screaming Eagles head coach and general manager Marc-André Dumont says his phone isn’t any busier than usual this time of year.
“General managers talk all year long — we don’t stop at any point — we always entertain good relationships and good conversations,” said Dumont. “I discuss with general managers almost on a weekly basis — it’s not only about trades.”
With the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League now at the halfway point of its season, teams generally know if their eyes are set on a championship run.
The league’s trade period will open on Monday morning, with teams having the opportunity to beef up their rosters for the playoff push.
The Cape Breton Screaming Eagles are right in the middle of the league’s standings, sitting 12th in the 18-team league with a 15-15-2-1 record.
Despite the team’s position, Cape Breton won’t make a trade just to make one.
“I think we have the same philosophy we’ve had for years — if there is deals out there that make sense in where we’re at in our development, we’re going to study them carefully,” said Dumont.
“For us to complete a transaction it’s gotta make sense, it’s gotta make sense in the big picture, it’s gotta make sense in the current lineup, and make sense for what we pay for,” he said. “Once we analyze opportunities that are provided to us, if we feel that it makes sense for us, we’re going to move forward and do it.”
One player of interest on the Screaming Eagles roster is forward Drake Batherson, an Ottawa Senators fourth-round draft pick who was named to the Canadian national junior team on Friday for the upcoming IIHF World Junior Hockey Championships in Buffalo, N.Y.
Batherson, who’s been a subject to trade rumours recently, has 17 goals and 39 points in 24 games with the Screaming Eagles this season.
“I never comment on rumours, what I can say is we want to keep Drake, but in all cases in all my years in the league as a general manager, it’s my duty to listen to any offers that are made,” said Dumont.
“We have to be careful with rumours and I feel sometimes media are not careful with rumours because last year it was published that Joël Teasdale (Blainville-Boisbriand) was part of the deal with Pierre-Luc Dubois and Joël was never part of the deal.”
Currently, the Screaming Eagles have 18 draft picks in the 2018 QMJHL Entry Draft, including seven picks in the first five rounds.
“We see picks at the draft as assets and assets can be used differently, they can be used in acquiring established players or they can be used to feed our system — it’s better to have 18 picks than not have any,” said Dumont.
“As an organization we’re building within the draft and we have nine 16- and 17-yearolds that are well surrounded by our group of veterans — we feel that we’ve accomplished a lot by allowing our young guys to take on some duties in this first half of the season.”
Dumont said buying and selling, when it comes to trades, are two words that are “extremely intense” in terms of meaning.
“I don’t see us building our team and making our team better as an all-in buying mentality or an all-out selling mentality,” he said. “I think what we do is make trades that make sense and right now that’s the direction that we want to take.”
The Quebec Major Junior Hockey League trade period concludes on Jan. 6, following the world junior tournament.