QMJHL trade period heating up

Photo: Michael Hawkins/Saint John Sea Dogs

Trades are picking up around the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League but the Saint John Sea Dogs have yet to make a deal.

The QMJHL announced earlier this week that the trade deadline has been pushed to Jan. 25, so there's plenty of time to make roster adjustments. Despite the date change, several teams have been busy over the past few days.

Notable deals this week include Charlottetown trading Anthony Hamel and picks to Moncton in exchange for Sean Stewart; Tampa Bay Lighting prospect Gabriel Fortier was dealt from Moncton to Shawinigan for a conditional third-round pick; Victoriaville dealt Felix Pare and picks to Cape Breton for Shawn Element; and then there was this huge deal announced Wednesday:

#QMJHLTrades 🔁
@LesOlympiques
➡ Rimouski : Evan MacKinnon (00-03-02), Gabriel Boissonneault (03-08-08), 1st round 2021, 1st round 2022 (SHE), 2nd round 2022@oceanicrimouski
➡ Gatineau : Isaac Belliveau (02-11-26), Andrew Coxhead (00-04-11), Matthew Dunsmoor (01-03-14) pic.twitter.com/64RKKyptdK

— QMJHL (@QMJHL) December 30, 2020

The Sea Dogs are in an interesting position because they have a number of directions they could go in this trade period. They could do very little or nothing - that's understandable. They could make a few tweaks or swaps here and there to improve this year's team without risking the future - that's understandable. They could make some drastic moves, further going all in on next season and the one after - that's understandable.

Obvious areas of note are Saint John's overage and import situations. Forward Vladislav Kotkov is taking a spot on both lists and there's still seemingly no clear pathway on getting him to Saint John. The same goes for Czech defenseman Jan Hampl. 

The Sea Dogs used just two overagers in the first half - forward Liam Leonard and goaltender Creed Jones. It'd be nice to have an impact 20-year-old join the team if Kotkov is indeed unable to travel - but it's hard to image the Dogs, who are typically shrewd with assets, giving up much for an overager in a season that may not even end with the President Cup being handed out. Some of the more high-end overagers have already been moved.

Limited viewings of this year's Sea Dogs squad no doubt makes this trade period difficult, but the team remains in a fortunate position. Being in "win now" mode last season or this season would be tough to swallow (sorry, Moncton) - especially after a rebuild that started at the very bottom.