Picks of the crop
Fitzpatrick, Gosse the first of eight Newfoundlanders taken in QMJHL draft
Just as there were last year, eight Newfoundlanders were selected in the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League draft Saturday in Charlottetown, P.E.I.
Goaltender Lucas Fitzpatrick, originally from Mount Pearl, was the highest to go, in the second round, 35th overall, to the Quebec Remparts.
Fitzpatrick now lives in Lower Sackville, N.S., and suited up for the Cole Harbour midgets last season. His older brother, Evan, is the star netminder for the QMJHL’s Sherbrooke Phoenix, and was drafted fourth overall by Sherbrooke in 2014.
The elder Fitzpatrick is the top-ranked North American goalie in NHL Central Scouting’s mid-term rankings.
Nick Gosse of Conception Bay South went in the third round, 48th overall, to the Rimouski Oceanic.
Gosse is a 6-1, 175-pound forward who played for the York Simcoe Express minor midget team in Ontario this past season.
The Express won the Ontario Minor Hockey Association championship along with the OHL Cup, a season-ending tournament for the top 20 minor midget AAA teams in Ontario and the U.S.
If Gosse cracks the Rimouski lineup next season, he will be the sixth Newfoundlander to wear an Oceanic jersey, joining Ryane Clowe, Jon Pardy, Mark Tobin, Andrew Picco and Tyler Boland.
Boland, as an overager, and Picco will both be returning to Rimouski next season.
Gosse’s teammate on the Express, Matt McKim of St. John’s was the top-rated player by Quebec league Central Scouting at 31st overall heading into Saturday’s draft.
McKim, however, slid all the way to the seventh round, 127th overall, where he was taken by the Rouyn-Noranda Huskies, QMJHL champs and Memorial Cup finalists this past season.
McKim, who did not attend the draft, informed teams he will be playing for the St. Andrew’s varsity team in Aurora, Ont., next season. St. Andrew’s is the alma mater of Arizona State’s Matt Kennedy of Mount Pearl.
McKim, who has had informal discussions with NCAA Division 1 programs, did not commit to the QMJHL in predraft meetings.