Capitals land targeted players
The Summerside D. Alex MacDonald Ford Western Capitals were pleased with draft day.
“It was a pretty good day,” said general manager Pat McIver. “We went in and had some guys we targeted. We got three of the first four guys we wanted, and were extremely happy with that.
“We added in all areas, added some guys who are in major junior to our list, guys who may be long shots, but may be (available) down the road, you just never know.”
The Maritime Junior Hockey League draft was held in Miramichi, N.B., on Saturday afternoon. It featured eight rounds, plus two rounds of territorial picks.
“It pretty much went how we thought it would for us,” added McIver. “We are happy to get who we got.”
The breakdown of Caps’ picks reads four defencemen, four forwards and two goaltenders.
“We had a list and kind of stuck to it for the first four or five rounds,” said McIver.
Charlottetown Pride forward Josh MacDonald of Cornwall was the Caps’ first selection in the second round, 23rd overall. MacDonald registered 29 points in 35 regular-season games in the New Brunswick/Prince Edward Island Major Midget Hockey League.
“I was really excited to hear that they picked me,” said the 16-year-old MacDonald, who was drafted by the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League’s (QMJHL) Saint John Sea Dogs a week earlier. “It’s a great honour to be their first pick, and it’s good to know they have a lot of faith in my abilities.”
MacDonald said he will attend the Sea Dogs’ training camp in August, and added if things do not work out there he is looking forward to competing for a roster spot with the Caps.
Other Prince Edward Islanders taken by the Caps were forwards Cameron Roberts and Thomas Harper, as well as defencemen Jordan Spence and Chris McQuaid.
There were eight other Islanders drafted by mainland teams.
Evan Gallant was the first Islander taken in the draft, going fifth overall to the St. Stephen Aces.
The Caps also swung two
trades during the weekend. They reacquired forward Jonathan Larter from the Valley Wildcats in exchange for future considerations. Larter played his rookie junior A season with the Caps two years ago.
“He’s a left-handed shot, has two years experience in this league and hopefully he will bring some experience and grit to our lineup,” said McIver.
Summerside sent defenceman Jacob Levesque to the Campbellton Tigers as part of the future considerations in the deal that brought goaltender Christofer Langlais to Summerside in January.
The Caps also acquired the junior A rights to forward Samuel Meisenheimer from the Nepean Raiders. Meisenheimer was recently traded by the Moncton Wildcats to the Charlottetown Islanders. Meisenheimer had eight points in 48 regular-season games with the Wildcats last year.