The Chronicle Herald (Provincial)
Islanders pick up Falmouth native Peach from Sherbrooke
Islanders acquire Bailey Peach from Sherbrooke Phoenix
Bailey Peach is looking forward to playing his first game with the Charlottetown Islanders.
The 19-year-old winger from Falmouth has only played five games this season with the Sherbrooke Phoenix due to COVID-19. Charlottetown acquired him for four draft picks Sunday during the first day of the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League (QMJHL) trade window.
“I can’t wait to get things going with the Islanders,” Peach said Sunday.
The 11th overall pick in the 2017 QMJHL draft is expected to boost the offence for a Charlottetown squad that is tied with the Val-d’or Foreurs for most points (24) in the 18-team league.
“I’m an offensive guy that can play at both ends of the ice,” said the five-foot-11, 175-pound scorer. “I’m a skilled forward that goes in the dirty areas, who can open up things for other teammates and score goals.”
Peach, who turns 20 on March 8, had 19 goals last season on a stacked Phoenix squad that had the most points in the league when the year was cancelled due to the pandemic. Peach said Sherbrooke could have won a championship a year ago and he’s excited for a crack at one in 2021.
“Being able to go to another team that has the same opportunity as we did last year is unbelievable.”
Islanders head coach and general manager Jim Hulton said he envisions Peach as a left-shot right-winger who can finish.
“He plays with a lot tenacity and characteristics we admire in players, so we think he’s going to be a pretty good fit with our group,” he said. “We think there’s a big upside for production from him.”
Peach had 27 goals and 47 points in 36 games with Cole Harbour in his junior draft year when he converted a number of passes from Ryan Francis, who now plays for the Cape Breton Eagles.
“He was a legitimate offensive player coming out of midget, a high-profile scorer,” Hulton said. “He’s a guy that we’ve valued a lot dating back to his draft year.”
Hulton inquired about Peach a year ago when Sherbrooke was acquiring 19-year-old defenceman Xavier Bernard from Charlottetown. A year later, the packages for the two deals look nearly identical.
Sherbrooke will receive two seconds, a third and a seventh.
Peach isn’t just a rental as he could be one of Charlottetown’s three overage players for the 2021-22 season and insurance was built into the deal in case the 2020-21 season is cancelled.
“We’re excited about a twoyear window, so this helps us both in the immediate future and down the road and I think that’s important in a year like this with so much uncertainty,” Hulton said.
Peach said he enjoyed his time with the Phoenix, noting it was a prestigious organization, but is excited to play closer to home.
“I loved my time there but being able to come back to the Maritimes, as an older guy and a veteran, I think it’s going to be good for me to show who I really am and be able to bring my game to another level,” said Peach, who returned to Falmouth, located across the Avon River from Windsor, on Dec. 5 and finished his 14 days of quarantine on Saturday. “It’s a dream come true, obviously, coming back to the Maritimes.”
The Islanders still could be players in other moves, but nothing was on the front burner on Sunday.
“I think patience is important,” Hulton said. “We have to see if we can past a second wave and get a season started, for one thing.”
The trade period usually closes the day after the world junior tournament ends in early January, but it is expected to remain open longer this season as some teams have only played a handful of games.