DOGS QUIET ON OPENING DAY

DRUMMONDVILLE - They were expected to stay quiet – and they did.

On the opening day of the trading window, the Saint John Sea Dogs were not active on the exchanging front, making just two miniscule deals involving draft picks.

The Sea Dogs sent a 2010 fifth round draft pick (73 overall) to the Gatineau Olympiques in exchange for an eighth round (144 overall) pick in this year’s entry draft.

The deal is believed to be involved with the trade saw Marc-Antoine Gelinas arrive in Saint John last season.

Gelinas played in 27 games this past season with Saint John. He went 21-5 before being dealt at the holiday trading period to Shawinigan. The 20-year old net minder was instrumental in the Dogs pulling off 22-straigh wins.

In their other transaction, Saint John flipped fifth round picks with the Lewiston MAINEiacs. The Sea Dogs now own the 73 slot while Lewiston will now pick at 81.

The QMJHL Entry Draft takes place tomorrow morning in Drummondville, Que. beginning at 11:00 am ADT.

To clarify some of our earlier remarks, teams are allowed to trade throughout the drafting process.

The only trade rumour that had been discussed to any extent involved star defenseman Simon Despres. The Pittsburgh Penguins first round pick in 2009 was rumoured to be headed to Bathurst after a general manager reported the news to Willy Palov of the Chronicle Herald.

In his live blog today, Palov said that the news of a possible Despres really came out of nowhere, signaling that there has not been much discussion over a possible deal.

Moncton based Radio-Canada correspondent Jean-Philippe Martin posted this on Twitter this afternoon:

Després to Bathurst..."No chance of that happening!" I am being told.

Sea Dogs associate coach and director of hockey operations Mike Kelly also silenced the rumours in today’s Telegraph-Journal.

In other moves related to Saint John today, one of the two second round picks in the deal that saw Cape Breton Screaming Eagles goaltender Oliver Roy traded to Lewiston was formally the Sea Dogs’. The pick was acquired in a draft day deal last season that saw the Dogs acquire Zach Phillips.