Crickard on Saint John's 2025 draft

Vincent Ethier / QMJHL

QUEBEC CITY – Travis Crickard's been through Quebec Maritimes Junior Hockey League Entry Drafts in the past – but none quite like this.

The 2025 edition was Crickard's first draft as the general manager of the Saint John Sea Dogs, a team that entered the weekend with the first overall pick and another two selections in the opening round.

"Pretty stressful going through it the first time," Crickard said shortly after the 12-round draft ended on Saturday at Quebec City's Videotron Centre. "Fortunately we hired a scouting staff that's relatively experienced, so that was really helpful to me. It was kind of understanding strategy more than anything. I think there's some other teams that are kind of in the same cycle as we are, and they would give me insight into maybe what they're thinking and what we should do, so that was helpful."

The Sea Dogs leave the draft with forward Alexis Joseph, considered by most to be the top player in this draft class; another first-rounder in forward Nolann Héroux; and 10 other prospects.

Crickard explained that while Saint John, obviously, wanted to leave the draft with the best players they could get, they also wanted to increase their bank of picks for this draft and future years. The team took a number of timeouts before making picks, ultimately moving down a couple times in exchange for additional selections.

The Sea Dogs considered moving down from pick No. 10 but opted to keep the selection.

"The guys are happy about who we got, so I need to trust them with their job. I'm happy about that, too."

With the NCAA rule change, there was much talk about an increase in Americans being picked during this year's draft. The Sea Dogs picked three on Saturday: forward Everett Baldwin in the second round; forward Finnegan Sears in the sixth round and defenseman Oskar Drabczynski in the seventh round. None were in attendance. 

"There'll be some work," Crickard said in getting the three to report. "We've had discussions with them leading into the draft, following them throughout the year. But we trust what we're doing with our recruitment to bring players in and whether it's this year or next year, we trust that we'll be able to get to them here."

A few other notes from Crickard...

• Crickard said Saint John's goaltending spots are "wide open" heading into the season. The team selected two goaltenders this year: Jase MacPherson in the second round and Sam Pitcher in the 11th. "We felt it was important to take a goalie relatively early," Crickard explained. "There was kind of three that were a notch above everyone else. So I felt if we got one of those three, it would set us up well. And fortunately, we got the one I thought was the best. Also nice he's Atlantic Canadian."
• Saint John made just four trades this week, none involving players. "It's a bit of an interesting year. Not a whole lot of player movement because this NCAA rule has kind of created an opportunity where you don't really need to maybe make trades for players right now, because you have the option to draft them or to maybe sign them to free agency. I think what's going to end up happening is, as you get closer to camp, every team's gonna have, like, five, seven, eight players who could possibly play in the league. Then there might be a little more movement then."
• The team's plan for next month's CHL Import Draft? "Oh, we have a plan," Crickard smiled. "We have a plan. If the plan is executed, we're going to be really happy." The team plans to use all three of their picks. Crickard said one of the reasons why he was away from the team on a scouting trip late in the year was in anticipation of a third import being allowed on CHL rosters.
• Crickard said that he and assistant coach Mark Lee, also a Newfoundlander, were clapping so hard when Ben Veitch of St. John's and Quinn Norman of Conception Bay South were picked in the first round by the Regiment that owner Scott McCain joked the two should get on stage with them.