Enjoying the moment
Defenceman Pierre-Olivier Joseph will hear his name called by an NHL team this week
Pierre-Olivier (P.O.) Joseph is days away from fulfilling a childhood dream.
The Charlottetown Islanders defencemen is expected to be taken in the first two rounds of the NHL draft.
“I’ve been dreaming about that since I started playing hockey. I have been watching the NHL since I was maybe four or five years old,” Joseph said Tuesday night.
The first round of the draft goes Friday night with the second to seventh rounds going on Saturday. Joseph and his family arrived in Chicago on Monday and were on their way to Milwaukee on Tuesday night to watch the Brewers-Pittsburgh Pirates baseball game. The Chambly, Que., native, who grew up watching and listening to the Montreal Canadiens games, said he had no preference of where he goes, but he would prefer it to be sooner rather than later. He has spoken with 29 of the NHL’s 31 teams, the only exceptions being Los Angeles and Nashville.
“At this point, you don’t want to think of where you’re going to go; you’re just going to go somewhere and prove yourself and try and reach another level in the next couple of years,” Joseph said. “You want to prove to everyone you can, and will, play in the NHL.”
Jim Hulton, who has coached Joseph the past two seasons in Charlottetown, said it will be an exciting week for a young man who made an immediate impression with the staff and his teammates.
“It’s been well-documented what we think of him. He’s an incredible person and player that’s made every one of us better that’s been associated with him,” Hulton said. “Whether it’s in the first round or second round, some NHL team is going to get one heck of player and person.”
Joseph being mentioned with the top prospects isn’t a surprise to fans who have watched him play the past two seasons in Charlottetown. It would have been two years ago when the Islanders found a steal by selecting him in the fifth round (78th overall) in the 2015 Quebec Major Junior Hockey League draft.
“The first thing that jumps out for anybody who first meets P.O. is that smile,” Hulton said.
“He’s got that thousand-watt smile that always seems to be on his face. It’s kind of relaxed, comfortable and happy to be playing the game.”
Joseph was one of the Islanders best young prospects during the 2015 training camp, but the team’s brass was concerned about his slight build, playing against guys five years older than him.
They sent him back to midget and kept an eye on him. Each time they saw him play, they were impressed and by November he had rejoined the team fulltime.
Joseph describes himself as a two-way player who can contribute both on the power play and the penalty kill while being a puck-moving defenceman. The 163-pound Joseph knows he has to get stronger and he said it is the focus of his offseason, whether it’s in the gym, on the ice or training outdoors. Hulton speaks glowingly of Joseph, who is the likely next captain of the Islanders and face of the franchise. He has natural leadership skills with players gravitating to him since his first season in Charlottetown.
There have been many scouts in the stands at the Eastlink Centre getting a sense of Joseph’s hockey skills the past two seasons. Many have had conversations with Hulton about the blue-liner’s character.
“They know what he can do on the ice,” he said. “They’re fun conversations to have because there’s no red flags with this young man.”