Dogs Select Czech D-Man 5th Overall

The Saint John Sea Dogs used the fifth overall pick in today’s Canadian Hockey League Import Draft to select Czech defenseman Jakub Zboril.

Zboril is 1997 born, making him eligible for next year’s NHL Draft. He is listed at just under 6’1” and 185 lbs.

According to Elite Prospects, the d-man played in 36 games with HC Kometa Brno U20 last season and recorded five goals and 16 assists. In 27 games with the Czech Republic under-18 team, he registered four goals and six assists.

Jerome Berube of HockeyProspect.com calls Zboril a “two way defenseman who can play physical.”

"This big defenseman is as versatile as they come and has the potential to become a star in the National Hockey League,” writes Radoslav Vavrina of Hockey’s Future. “On the blue line, he tends to use his cannon shot often, which creates a lot of good opportunities, but he can pass the puck, as well. In his own zone, Zbořil either uses his body to flatten players to gain control of the puck, or he can accomplish this with his stick. The best thing about him is that he's a 2015 NHL Draft prospect and has more than a year to become a top prospect in his draft year."

Zboril is the younger brother of Adam Zboril who used to play with the Acadie-Bathurst Titan.

Saint John picks again at 65^th overall.

Import Draft Day Has Arrived

The 2014 Canadian Hockey League Import Draft takes place today beginning at noon Atlantic time. The draft can be followed online here.

After finishing with the second worst record in the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League regular season, the Saint John Sea Dogs will be selecting 5^th and 65^th overall in the two-round draft. The Sarnia Sting have the first overall pick while the Quebec Remparts, via a trade with the Sherbrooke Phoenix, will select second.

Darrell Young and the Sea Dogs will certainly be looking to improve on last year’s Import Draft performance. Led by former Sea Dogs general manager manager Mike Kelly, the team used the ninth overall pick to select Slovakian forward Juraj Siska who would end up not playing a single game with the club due to injury. As a result, the Dogs played with just one import last season – defenseman Jurij Repe – and he is not expected to return.

This will be the seventh time in franchise history that Saint John will pick in the top 10. Here is who they have taken in the past:

2005: 5th overall - Martin Bartos
2005: 41st overall - Felix Schutz
2006: 4th overall – David Stich
2007: 3rd overall - Robert Mayer
2009: 1st overall – Stanislav Galiev
2009: 4th overall – Tomas Jurco
2012: 34^th overall – Jurij Repe
2012: 52^nd overall – Jakub Izacky
2013: 9^th overall – Juraj Siska

I’m not even going to try and speculate on whom the Dogs may take today. Elite Prospects is going to have a busy day.

Photo: Marc Henwood/Station Nation

The Import Draft Is Coming

The Saint John Sea Dogs will be selecting fifth overall in Wednesday’s 2014 Canadian Hockey League Import Draft.

This year’s draft begins later than in past years, starting at noon Atlantic time. The CHL released some details today. From the CHL website:

The two-round draft will take place online with the order of selection rotating through each of the CHL’s three leagues using an inverse order of final regular season standings within each league from the 2013-14 season.  The OHL’s Sarnia Sting hold the number one pick, followed by the Quebec Remparts who acquired the second overall selection following a 2012 trade with the Sherbrooke Phoenix.  The WHL’s Lethbridge Hurricanes will select third overall.  Each team in the CHL is permitted to dress and play a maximum of two import players each season who are selected annually through the CHL Import Draft. 

The Sea Dogs will select fifth and 65^th overall on Wednesday and it appears the team plans on using both picks. Saint John dressed just one import player last season – and that one player, Jurij Repe, is not expected to be back - due to Juraj Siska being unable to play because of injury.

Saint John drafted Siska ninth overall in last year’s draft and had knowledge of his injury. The selection likely played a role in Mike Kelly’s firing.

New Dogs general manager Darrell Young will look to drastically improve Saint John’s Import Draft fortunes. Young is well connected in the hockey world and this draft is often more about who you know than where you pick.

Looking ahead, this could be a big moment for the Sea Dogs. Saint John has a solid core group in place and can add another significant piece or two on Wednesday.

Having high picks in the Import Draft is nothing new for the Sea Dogs. They selected forward Martin Bartos fifth overall in 2005, defenseman David Stich fourth overall in 2006, goaltender Robert Mayer third overall in 2007, forward Stanislav Galiev first overall in 2009, and forward Tomas Jurco fourth overall in 2009.

The CHL Import Draft can be followed live on the CHL website on Wednesday.

Photo: Marc Henwood/Station Nation

Notebook: 17 QMJHL Players Drafted

A total of 17 QMJHL players were chosen in this year’s NHL Draft. Just one was selected in the first round while five were picked in the final round. Here is the full list:

9. Nikolaj Ehlers of the Halifax Mooseheads - Winnipeg Jets
33. Ivan Barbashev of the Moncton Wildcats - St-Louis Blues
34. Mason McDonald of the Charlottetown Islanders - Calgary Flames
48. Nicolas Aube-Kubel of the Val-d'Or Foreurs - Philadelphia Flyers
49. Vaclav Karabacek of the Gatineau Olympiques - Buffalo Sabres
102. Alexis Vanier of the Baie-Comeau Drakkar - San Jose Sharks
107. Julien Pelletier of the Cape Breton Screaming Eagles - Columbus Blue Jackets
114. Alexis Pépin of the Gatineau Olympiques - Colorado Avalanche
127. Clark Bishop of the Cape Breton Screaming Eagles - Carolina Hurricanes
140. Daniel Walcott of the Blainville-Boisbriand Armada - New York Rangers
147. Daniel Audette of the Sherbrooke Phoenix - Montreal Canadiens
176. Samuel Blais of the Victoriaville Tigres - St-Louis Blues
183. Keven Bouchard of the Val-d'Or Foreurs - Edmonton Oilers
185. Cameron Darcy of the Cape Breton Screaming Eagles - Tampa Bay Lightning
190. Francis Perron of the Rouyn-Noranda Huskies - Ottawa Senators
197. Olivier Leblanc of the Saint John Sea Dogs - Columbus Blue Jackets
204. Julien Nantel of the Rouyn-Noranda Huskies - Colorado Avalanche

95 – or 45% - of the 210 players chosen were from the CHL.

LEBLANC

Olivier LeBlanc was the only Sea Dog selected in the NHL Draft, going 197^th overall to the Columbus Blue Jackets. Some links on it:

Blue Jackets website: Bio Blast

Blue Jackets website: The Numbers Game: Olivier LeBlanc

Getty Images has some pictures of LeBlanc at the draft, which, for some odd reason, are not embeddable.

COUGHLIN

As Sea Dogs equipment manager David Kelly noted on Twitter, Liam Coughlin, the brother of former Sea Dog Kevin Coughlin, was a fifth-round pick of the Edmonton Oilers in this year’s draft.

Liam registered 18 goals and 27 assists in 53 games with the BCHL’s Vernon Vipers last year. The South Boston native is committed to play at Boston University next season.

Kevin played in 56 games with the Sea Dogs during their expansion season of 2005-06, registering 20 goals and 17 assists. He played two seasons with the Quebec Remparts prior to that.

Highmore Gets Habs Camp Invite

Although he wasn’t picked in this weekend’s NHL Draft, Matthew Highmore has still received an invitation to attend a development camp.

RDS’ Stephane Leroux tweets that Highmore and fellow QMJHL players M-Olivier Crevier-Morin, Alexandre Goulet, Bokondji Imama, and Philippe Gadoury have been invited to attend Montreal Canadiens development camp. 

This is certainly nothing new. Over the past few years, a lot of non-drafted QMJHL players have been invited to take part in Habs camp.

In his second season with the Sea Dogs, Highmore finished second in team scoring with 19 goals and 31 assists in 68 games.

In NHL Central Scouting’s final rankings, Highmore was listed at No. 155.

Defenseman Olivier LeBlanc was the only Sea Dogs player selected in this year’s draft, going 197th overall to the Columbus Blue Jackets.

Blue Jackets Select LeBlanc

Olivier Leblanc (@3LeBlanc) going through the #NHLDraft media tour after being selected by #CBJ. pic.twitter.com/WtSTCllMPU
— NHL Blue Jackets (@BlueJacketsNHL) June 28, 2014

Olivier LeBlanc ended the Saint John Sea Dogs’ draft drought today.

LeBlanc become the first Sea Dogs player to be selected since the 2011 NHL Draft, going in the seventh round, 197^th overall to the Columbus Blue Jackets.

In 56 games with Saint John last season, the defenseman registered seven goals and 26 assists. In his rookie season in 2012-13, the 18-year old had four goals and 14 assists in 60 matches. He was an 11^th overall pick of Saint John in the 2012 QMJHL Entry Draft.

The Quebec City native saw lots of ice time last season and will play a huge role on the backend again this season.

LeBlanc is the 14^th player in Sea Dogs history to be selected in the NHL Draft. He’s also the first Saint John defenseman to be picked since Nathan Beaulieu in the first round of the 2011 draft.

Forwards Matthew Highmore and Spencer Smallman, who were both listed in NHL Central Scouting’s final rankings, were not selected.