Eriks Mateiko is now a member of the Washington Capitals organization.
The Saint John Sea Dogs forward was selected in the third round, 90th overall by the Capitals on Saturday at the 2024 NHL Draft in Las Vegas. Mateiko becomes the first Sea Dog to be drafted into the NHL since Cam MacDonald in 2021.
Mateiko is just the second Sea Dog to ever be drafted by the Capitals. Stanislav Galiev was taken by the team in the third round of the 2010 NHL Draft.
With the 90th pick in the 2024 NHL Draft, the Washington Capitals are proud to select Eriks Mateiko! #CapsDraft | @Verizon pic.twitter.com/sEvK7ItofZ
— Washington Capitals (@Capitals) June 29, 2024
The 18-year-old has spent the past two seasons in Saint John – but his future is a bit cloudy. The team hasn't made it a secret that they are shopping the big forward around and there is likely no shortage of teams interested in his services.
Mateiko will be back in the QMJHL this season – unless he surprises everyone and makes the Capitals out of training camp. He is not eligible to play in the AHL or ECHL yet.
Mateiko was the lone Sea Dog to be drafted and one of just 15 players from the QMJHL to be selected, which is up from 12 last year. It was the second straight year that no player from the league was picked in the first round.
Riverview's Spencer Gill was the first QMJHL player picked, going 59th overall to the Philadelphia Flyers. The only other Atlantic Canadian selected was Gabe Smith of St. Andrews, who went in the fourth round to the Utah No Names.
Baie-Comeau's Justin Poirier, the younger brother of former Sea Dogs defenseman Jeremie Poirier, landed with the Carolina Hurricanes in the fifth round.
Here's a quick look at who went were.
RD 2, 59th: Philadelphia – Spencer Gill (Rimouski)RD 3, 66th: Anaheim – Maxim Masse (Chicoutimi)RD 3, 73rd: Seattle – Alexis Bernier (Baie-Comeau)RD 3, 89th: Utah – Tomas Lavoie (Cape Breton)RD 3, 90th: Washington – Eriks Mateiko (Saint John)RD 4, 99th: Nashville – Jakub Milota (Cape Breton)RD 4, 100th: Anaheim – Alexandre Blais (Rimouski)RD 4, 103rd: Utah – Gabe Smith (Moncton)RD 4, 118th: Tampa Bay – Jan Golicic (Gatineau)RD 4, 119th: New York Rangers – Raoul Boilard (Baie-Comeau)RD 4, 123rd: Buffalo – Simon-Pier Brunet (Drummondville)RD 5, 156th: Carolina – Justin Poirier (Baie-Comeau)RD 6, 171st: New Jersey – Matyas Melovsky (Baie-Comeau)RD 7, 209th: St. Louis – Antoine Dorion (Quebec)RD 7, 217th: Colorado – Nikita Prishchepov (Victoriaville)
"First of all, I'd like to congratulate these 15 players, as well as their parents and the staff of their respective clubs, because being drafted is a team effort," QMJHL commissioner Mario Cecchini said in a news release. "That's better than last year (12), and our 2025 and 2026 prospects look promising. As a league, we're always looking for more (drafted players) and we're going to keep working hard on that. We need to continue to get the word out about our top players so that NHL scouts and teams become even more interested in them."
As Cecchini points out (above and in le Journal de Quebec), the next couple drafts should be better for the QMJHL, but there are certainly still some issues here that the league – and the provincial governing bodies – need to examine. Having a number of the top players in this year's QMJHL draft class announce they are taking the NCAA route doesn't help things.
88 players from the three CHL leagues were selected this weekend, which included 39 from the OHL and 34 from the WHL.
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