Eagles beat the odds
Cape Breton wins draft lottery, will pick first overall for fourth time
SYDNEY — The Cape Breton Eagles will pick first overall at the 2024 Quebec Maritimes Junior Hockey League Entry Draft in June.
Cape Breton received the first overall selection by winning the league’s draft lottery on Thursday evening during a special edition of the Hockey 360 Show on RDS.
The Eagles, who will have the first overall selection for the fourth time in franchise history, beat the odds in the lottery, entering the event with three balls and a 14 per cent chance to claim the top pick.
The Val-d’or Foreurs, who finished in last place in the 18-team league, had the best odds to win the lottery, holding 15 balls and a 71 per cent chance of earning the first overall selection.
Val-d’or had a 43 per cent chance with their own firstround selection. The team also owns the Quebec Remparts first-round pick, which had a 28 per cent chance of claiming the top selection.
The Foreurs picks in the draft will be at No. 2 and No. 3 overall. The Quebec Remparts, holding Charlottetown’s selection, and the Saint John Sea Dogs, holding Gatineau’s first-round pick, will select at No. 4 and No. 5 overall respectively.
Although Cape Breton finished seventh overall in the league, the team earned the right to be in the draft lottery, holding Saint John’s first-round pick, which was acquired by the team in a January 2022 trade that sent forward Connor Trenholm to the Sea Dogs.
The Eagles have picked first overall three times since 1997 with the most recent coming in 2022 when the club drafted defenceman Tomas Lavoie first overall.
Cape Breton also had the first overall selection in 2013 and selected forward Nicolas Roy, a current member of the NHL’S Vegas Golden Knights. Roy refused to report to the Eagles and was later traded to Chicoutimi.
The club’s first No. 1 pick came 20 years ago in 2004 when the team nabbed forward James Sheppard with the top pick.
In 2017, the QMJHL introduced the five-team draft lottery featuring the bottom five teams in the league’s overall standings.
Before 2022, the last-place team had never won the draft lottery. Cape Breton broke the five-year curse by winning the lottery that year.
Cape Breton and Saint John have been tied to draft lottery success in the past.
During the 2014-15 season, the Eagles traded defenceman Jason Bell and a first-round pick, which originally belonged to Drummondville, to the Sea Dogs in a deal which saw Cape Breton acquire defenceman Olivier Leblanc and forward Declan Smith.
The Drummondville pick, then owned by Saint John, would win the draft lottery and the Sea Dogs would selected now Detroit Red Wings prospect Joseph Veleno, who had received expectational players status to be in the draft.
The 2024 QMJHL Entry Draft will take place June 7-8 at Avenir Centre in Moncton. The first round of the event will take place on June 7.