Deadline day news and notes

It was a busy trading period for the Saint John Sea Dogs, which ended with an even busier deadline day on Sunday.

The Sea Dogs made a total of eight trades during the transaction period - five of which were finalized on Sunday. Here are some news and notes from this past weekend's activities.

• With Saint John picking up a first round pick from the Baie-Comeau Drakkar in the Alex D'Orio trade, the Sea Dogs now have six first round picks over the next three drafts - one in 2019 (BLB), three in 2020 (SJ, DRU and BAC) and two in 2021 (SJ and HAL).
• D'Orio has a legitimate shot at another QMJHL title. The Drakkar currently sit third overall in the QMJHL standings - just six points back of the first-place Rouyn-Noranda Huskies.
• The Drakkar visit Harbour Station on Jan. 25.
• The acquisition of Zachary Bouthillier really solidifies Saint John's goaltending for the rest of the season. A Toronto Maple Leafs prospect, Bouthillier will likely be back next season to be Saint John's No. 1.
• As noted by the team in a news release, Mikhail Denisov and Bouthillier played together with the Shawinigan Cataractes in 2016-17.
• The team hasn't released information on Tommy DaSilva's future. He has struggled this season and has not played in a game since Dec. 7 - although he has dressed as backup since then.
• It's unlikely any of the players acquired from Drummondville in the Shane Bowers trade will report to Saint John. The deal will presumably be finalized and tidied up at the QMJHL Entry Draft in June. "There will be more transactions to come," said Sea Dogs president and general manager Trevor Georgie.
• It doesn't look like Bowers will be reporting to the Voltigeurs, which is too bad.
• What was with Saint John swapping second round picks with the Titan? Saint John wanted another pick in this year's draft. Saint John currently owns three first round picks in 2020.
• Overager Anthony Boucher was not traded. We'll see where he ends up - and unfortunately it may not be in the Q.
• If you haven't heard, 16-year-old Alex Drover will play the remainder of the season with the MHL's Valley Wildcats.
• Former Sea Dogs defenseman Ian Smallwood was traded to the Acadie-Bathurst Titan by the Cape Breton Screaming Eagles.

The Sea Dogs are back in action on Wednesday, hosting the Shawinigan Cataractes at 7 p.m.

Drover to join MHL's Wildcats

SAINT JOHN - In an expected but perhaps not preferred move, the Saint John Sea Dogs will be assigning 16-year-old forward Alex Drover to the Valley Wildcats of the Maritime Hockey League.

Drover was acquired in the Nathan Larose trade with the Cape Breton Screaming Eagles a couple weeks ago and has recorded a goal and an assist in six games. Overall this season, the 10th overall pick in last June's QMJHL Entry Draft has four goals and nine assists in 32 games.

Unfortunately for Drover and the Sea Dogs, there is a limit on the number of 16-year-olds a team can carry - and Saint John has been over that limit all season with Josh Lawrence, Brady Burns, William Villeneuve and Jeremie Poirier. Drover, like Dawson Stairs, will play the remainder of the season in the MHL where he'll get plenty of ice time.

According to a Wildcats release, Drover is expected to join the Berwick, NS based junior 'A' club this week.

“We’re very happy to work out a deal with Saint John to acquire Alex’s Maritime league rights and provide him the ice time he needs to develop,” said Wildcats general manager and head coach Nick Greenough in a release. “It’s not every day you’re able to add a first-rounder from the Q and we expect Alex will provide some much-needed scoring punch.”

The Wildcats sit last overall in the MHL with a 5-23-3-0 record and have scored a league low 63 goals.

The Sea Dogs recently assigned defenseman Carson Gallant to the Wildcats as well.

Sea Dogs have a busy deadline day

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SAINT JOHN - Sunday proved to be one of the busiest Quebec Major Junior Hockey League trade deadline days in Saint John Sea Dogs history.

The Sea Dogs made a total of five deals on Sunday in what was the final day of trading for the 2018-19 season. Two of the trades were expected - the Shane Bowers deal and the Alex D'Orio transaction.

Here's what the Sea Dogs did on deadline day:

To Bathurst: 2020 second round pick (Drummondville)
To Saint John: 2019 second round pick (Halifax)

To Drummondville: Shane Bowers
To Saint John: Ryan Leonard and Max Sauve

To Baie-Comeau: Alex D'Orio
To Saint John: 2019 12th round pick and a 2020 first round pick

To Chicoutimi: 2020 second round pick (Sherbrooke) and a 2021 fourth round pick
To Saint John: Zachary Bouthillier

To Rimouski: 2021 fifth and sixth round picks
To Saint John: Alexis Belisle

The Bowers deal presumably has conditional pieces attached to it - which will be settled up at the QMJHL Entry Draft in June. At this time, it doesn't seem likely that Bowers will report to the Voltigeurs, meaning the return will likely be less than hoped. Leonard and Sauve are both Americans who have never played in the league.

Bouthillier, a 19-year-old veteran goaltender who is a Toronto Maple Leafs prospect, might mean the end of Tommy DaSilva's time with the Sea Dogs for this season - but we will see. Bouthillier is 9-10 this season with the Sagueneens with a 3.36 GAA and .889 SV%.

Belisle, meanwhile, is a 16-year-old forward playing with the QMAAA's Saint-Eustache Vikings. He was a third-round pick of the Oceanic in the 2018 Draft.

More info to come...

Sea Dogs trade D'Orio to the Drakkar

SAINT JOHN - The Alex D'Orio era is over in Saint John.

While the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League still hadn't made the deal official at the time of this writing, all indications are that D'Orio will be/has been traded to the Baie-Comeau Drakkar in exchange for a 2020 first-round pick.

Un choix de premier tour 2020 ira aux Sea Dogs dans la transaction qui envoie D’Orio à Baie-Comeau. #tvasports

— Mikaël Lalancette (@MLalancetteTVA) January 5, 2019

D'Orio spoke with Sea Dogs broadcaster John Moore about the deal that will see him join one of the league's top contenders.

Alex D’Orio excited to join #Drakkar just before trade deadline.@SJSeaDogs pic.twitter.com/yiBfIr30dm

— John Moore (@rinkrant) January 6, 2019

While D'Orio has had a rough season, he's no doubt still considered one of the best goaltenders in the league - and has been considered one of the top goalies available on the trade market for some time.

RECAP: Sea Dogs lose 4-3

FINAL: Rimouski 4, Saint John 3

SAINT JOHN - In a close battle, the Saint John Sea Dogs fell 4-3 to the Rimouski Oceanic on Saturday night at Harbour Station.

While the buzz was around goaltender Alex D'Orio being traded to the Baie-Comeau Drakkar, the Sea Dogs played a fairly solid game against one of the league's better clubs.

Saint John has shown of late that they are able to handle some adversity and battle back from it. They showed that again on Saturday, climbing back from 2-0 and 3-2 deficits. Despite ultimately losing, the Sea Dogs have shown a lot of improvement in their game over the past couple weeks.

Filip Prikryl, Jeremie Jacob and Brady Burns - all of whom have been putting up points at a steady pace of late - scored for Saint John. Burns also had a an assist in a first star performance. Mikhail Denisov, in his first game as the team's official No. 1 netminder, made 34 stops in the loss.

Anthony D'Amours, Charle-Edouard D'Astous, Cedric Pare and Jimmy Huntington scored for Rimouski. Tristan Berube made 27 stops in the win.

Game Day 40: vs Oceanic

SAINT JOHN - The Rimouski Oceanic make their only visit of the season to Harbour Station tonight.

Canadian world junior forward Alexis Lafreniere, who is projected to be the first overall pick in the 2020 NHL Draft, has rejoined the club and should be in the lineup this evening.

Game time between the Saint John Sea Dogs and Oceanic is 7 p.m.

TV/Radio/Webcast: Rogers TV/Sea Dogs Radio/QMJHL Live

Records: The Sea Dogs are 8-28-2-1 for 19 points (fifth Maritimes, ninth Eastern, 17th QMJHL) while the Oceanic are 22-13-3-0 for 47 points (second East, sixth Eastern, eighth QMJHL).

Last games: The Sea Dogs are coming off a 5-1 loss to the Cape Breton Screaming Eagles last night at Harbour Station. Aiden MacIntosh scored Saint John's lone goal while Alex D'Orio made 36 stops in the loss. The Oceanic are coming off a 6-3 loss in Halifax last night. Olivier Garneau, Nathan Ouellet and Zachary Massicotte scored for Rimouski. Tristan Berube allowed three goals on 13 shots. Colten Ellis allowed three goals on 14 shots.

2018-19 head-to-head: The Sea Dogs are 0-1-0-0 against the Oceanic this season while Rimouski is 1-0-0-0 against Saint John.

Last meeting: Nov. 1 in Rimouski where the Oceanic hammered the Sea Dogs 9-1. Charles-Edouard D'Astous and Alexis Lafreniere each scored twice while singles came from Dmitry Zavgorodniy, Radim Salda, Cedric Pare, Olivier Garneau and Anthony Gagnon. William Poirier scored for Saint John. Colten Ellis made 20 saves in the win. Tommy DaSilva allowed five goals on 25 shots. Stewart Bagnell allowed four goals on 20 shots.