Sea Dogs make trio of trades

Michael Hawkins/Saint John Sea Dogs

It's the end of an era for the Saint John Sea Dogs.

The Sea Dogs traded 20-year-old forward Josh Lawrence to the Cape Breton Eagles on Wednesday, completing the Connor Trenholm deal that the two teams made in January. The Eagles then flipped Lawrence to the Blainville-Boisbriand Armada. 

Lawrence, who has spent the past four seasons in Saint John, recorded 192 points in his Sea Dogs career, placing him 10th all-time. He leaves the Sea Dogs having appeared in 196 consecutive games, one game short of Jeremie Poirier's franchise record.

The Fredericton native is coming off the best season of his QMJHL career, recording 31 goals and 101 points in 68 regular season games. After playing on a line with 56-goal man William Dufour in Saint John, he'll join an Armada team that has acquired 55-goal man Patrick Guay.

Lawrence had two goals and six points in four Memorial Cup games. He'll always be remembered for his goal in the Memorial Cup final, which proved to be a key insurance marker in Saint John's 6-3 win over the Hamilton Bulldogs.

5-2. Off this beauty of a one-t by Josh Lawrence. 😬#MemorialCup | @SJSeaDogs pic.twitter.com/43hMlGQHSQ

— QMJHL (@QMJHL) June 30, 2022

The trading of Lawrence truly signals the end of an era for the Sea Dogs. Lawrence was one of the key players taken by the Sea Dogs in the 2018 QMJHL Entry Draft, a class that also included William Villeneuve, Jeremie Poirier, Brady Burns, Charlie DesRoches and others.

In exchange for Lawrence, the Sea Dogs received 18-year-old forward Jack Campbell (not the Maple Leafs goaltender), a seventh-round pick in 2024 and an eighth-round pick in 2024. Both of those picks originally belonged to Saint John.

Campbell, in his third QMJHL season, recorded two goals and 10 points in 63 games with a bad Cape Breton team.

The Sea Dogs made a couple other moves on Saturday. As expected, 17-year-old defenseman Nathan Drapeau was traded to the Val-d'Or Foreurs in exchange for a sixth-round pick in 2023 and a 10th-round pick in 2024. Both of those picks were originally Saint John's. This deal completes the Marshall Lessard trade made in January.

Drapeau spent two seasons with the Sea Dogs and proved to be a solid defensive defenseman. He was used sparingly during the playoffs and Memorial Cup. He'll join former Sea Dogs defenseman Kale McCallum in Val-d'Or.

Lastly, the Sea Dogs traded 20-year-old goaltender Thomas Couture to the Rouyn-Noranda Huskies in exchange for 19-year-old defenseman Jared Cosman and a fourth-round pick (Rimouski's) in this year's draft.

Couture, acquired by the Sea Dogs in the Philippe Daoust trade with the Moncton Wildcats, put up some excellent numbers in the regular season and playoffs. Cosman, meanwhile, is a Grand Bay-Westfield native and has spent the past two seasons with the Huskies. He had two goals and 10 points in 48 games last season.

The full list of trades can be found on the QMJHL website.