Mense added to camp roster; Hlacar staying in OHL

USHL

The Saint John Sea Dogs announced an addition to the club's training camp roster on Monday.

Joe Mense, an overage defenseman who played in the USHL last season, has been added. He joins forward Olivier Lemieux and defenseman Julien Lanthier as 20-year-olds currently on the camp roster.

A Port Jefferson, New York native, Mense has spent the past three seasons in the USHL, splitting time between the Sioux City Musketeers and Cedar Rapids RoughRiders. Last season in Cedar Rapids, the d-man posted five assists in 22 games.

In 115 USHL games split over three seasons, Mense has posted four goals and 27 assists.

He's listed at 6'2" and 214 lbs.

The Sea Dogs also announced Monday that overage forward Matthew Hlacar will not be joining the team's training camp, instead signing in the OHL. It was announced in late July that Hlacar would attend Sea Dogs camp as a free agent.

Former Kitchener Rangers F Matthew Hlacar isn't skating yet, but is at Brantford Bulldogs training camp.

— Josh Brown (@BrownRecord) August 24, 2026

Hlacar has spent the past two seasons in the OHL with the Kitchener Rangers, helping the team win a league title and Memorial Cup last year. He posted six goals and six assists in 51 regular season games last season and another goal in 15 playoff matches.

Hlacar was a seventh-round pick of the Toronto Maple Leafs in the 2025 NHL Draft.

With these announcements, Saint John's camp roster now sits at 35 players: 18 forwards, 13 defensemen and four goaltenders.

The Sea Dogs begin pre-season play on Wednesday night when they host the Moncton Wildcats in St. Stephen. Game time is 7 p.m.

21 players reassigned from training camp

QUISPAMSIS, NB - The Saint John Sea Dogs have wasted little time making a significant round of cuts from the team's training camp roster.

The Sea Dogs announced Sunday night that 21 players have been reassigned. The cuts come following the completion of phase one of training camp, which featured rookies and free agent invites.

There were no big surprises amongst the reassignments.

Forwards

Kareem Baig-Mirza (free agent)

Thomas Bond

Dylan-Alec Chery

Samuel Deschenes (free agent)

Carson Ferdinand (free agent)

Dylan Hug (free agent)

Wyatt Jinman (free agent)

Zack Labelle

Glenfall Lewis (free agent)

Carter Odell

Travis Tremblay (free agent)

Brayden Waterhouse (free agent)

Defensemen 

Xavier Ayotte (free agent)

Justin Hamel

Ben Loucks (free agent)

Louis Métivier

Goaltenders 

Daniel Blanchard (free agent)

Pierce Brackett (free agent)

Philippe Harvey 

Olivier Pépin (free agent)

Will Torres

Players that took part in phase one of camp and are advancing to the second phase include forwards Madison Bouchard, Matyas Cancik, Brock Lyons, Felix Pronovost, Nathan Riendeau, Kaidan Sahajpal and Elliot Tozer; defensemen Brodie Anderson, Jayden Connors (free agent), Jesse Dunlap, Julien Lacroix and Lawrence Williams; and goaltenders Jase MacPherson and Sam Pitcher.

The Sea Dogs have posted an updated training camp roster which now consists of 18 forwards, 12 defensemen and four goaltenders.

Phase two of training camp is set to begin on Monday. The Sea Dogs will play their first game of the pre-season on Wednesday when they host the Moncton Wildcats in St. Stephen.

Team Blue rebounds with 6-3 win

QUISPAMSIS, NB - After falling 9-2 to Team White on Saturday, Team Blue responded with a 6-3 victory in Saint John Sea Dogs intrasquad action on Sunday.

Brock Lyons netted a pair of goals for the winning side while Glenfall Lewis (or Dylan-Alec Chery – unsure who made the last touch), Matyas Cancik, Brodie Anderson and Felix Pronovost added singles.

Team White had a pair of goals from Travis Tremblay and a solo marker from Dylan Hug.

Unlike Saturday's action that saw the teams play two 25-minute periods, Sunday's play was split into three periods of 15-minutes each. All six goaltenders saw action.

For Team Blue, Pierce Brackett got the start followed by Olivier Pepin and Will Torres. Each netminder allowed one goal.

On the Team White side, Daniel Blanchard started and allowed two goals in the opening frame. Philippe Harvey allowed one goal in the second period and Sam Pitcher let in two in the third. Team Blue's sixth goal was an empty netter.

Like Saturday, there was a short fight. In the third period, Brayden Waterhouse and Julien Lacroix dropped the gloves.

This concluded the first phase of Sea Dogs training camp, which featured rookies and free agent invites. The second phase, which is set to begin Monday, will include returning players and newly acquired veterans.

Here are a few videos from Sunday's action.

Notebook: Magnusson signs in BCHL

Michael Hawkins/Saint John Sea Dogs

Carl-Otto Magnusson has found a home for the 2026-27 season.

The overage defenseman has signed with the Nanaimo Clippers of the BCHL. The move comes after Magnusson was not part of UConn's freshman class for this upcoming season.

“I’m really excited to join the Nanaimo Clippers and get to know all the guys, the town and the community,” said Magnusson in a news release. “I’m looking forward to getting over there, meeting everyone and competing with the team. I can’t wait to get started!”

The defensive defenseman was traded to Saint John from the Moncton Wildcats during the holiday trade period. Magnusson was held pointless in 25 regular season games with the Sea Dogs and in three playoff contests. He was listed as a healthy scratch for one of the Sea Dogs' post-season matches.

While eligible to play another season in the QMJHL, he would take up both an overage and import spots, something that doesn't happen too often.

REGIMENT CAMP IN SUMMERSIDE

The Newfoundland Regiment are holding the first portion of their training camp in Summerside.

The Regiment are using the Gerard "Turk" Gallant Arena, which is the secondary ice surface at Summerside's Credit Union Place. In attendance on Thursday was Gallant himself. 

The former Sea Dogs head coach was seen catching up with another former Sea Dogs head coach in Gordie Dwyer, the Regiment's bench boss and general manager.

The pride of Summerside 🤩

Jack Adams winner and local legend Gerard Gallant stopped by the rink this morning to take in some intrasquad action.

Unite. Inspire. Defend. pic.twitter.com/imzS74xhjB

— Newfoundland Regiment (@nlregiment) August 20, 2026

The Regiment will play a couple pre-season games in the Maritimes this weekend before shifting things to Newfoundland.

Sea Dogs open training camp with intrasquad game

QUISPAMSIS, NB - Team White defeated Team Blue 9-2 on the opening day of on-ice sessions at Saint John Sea Dogs training camp.

Defenseman Jesse Dunlap and forward Kareem Baig-Mirza led Team White with a pair of goals each. Singles came from Madison Bouchard, Oliver Ozogany, Samuel Deschenes, Dylan Hug and Lawrence Williams.

Team Blue had goals from Wyatt Jinman and Matyas Cancik.

The game consisted of two 25-minute periods. Both teams played three goaltenders. On the Team White side, Philippe Harvey started the game and allowed two goals. Sam Pitcher and Daniel Blanchard did not allow any goals.

For Team Blue, Olivier Pepin started and allowed one goal. Will Torres then took over and allowed five goals. Pierce Brackett ended the game and allowed three goals.

The full rosters for the game are below. Glenfall Lewis also dressed for Team Blue.

Rosters are set for our first Blue vs White game of training camp.

Puck drops at 10:30 a.m. at the @Quispamsisqplex.#GoDogsGo | #SeaDogsCamp pic.twitter.com/yl7VGWLEvJ

— Saint John Sea Dogs (@SJSeaDogs) August 22, 2026

The Sea Dogs will hold more on-ice sessions on Sunday at the qplex beginning at 10:30 a.m.

Here are a few videos from Saturday's action.

Training camp is here

QUISPAMSIS, NB – Here we go.

What has the makings of a fascinating season officially gets underway Saturday morning as the Saint John Sea Dogs open up training camp at the Quispamsis qplex.

The first phase of camp begins at 10:30 a.m. with an on-ice session which will be followed by a goaltending session at 12:30 p.m.. The team will do that all over again on Sunday before the second phase of camp – which will feature veterans and returning players – begins on Monday.

This weekend's sessions will give fans their first look at the team's 2026 draft class along with free agent invites. That includes defenseman Lawrence Williams, the team's first-round pick from June's QMJHL Entry Draft.

While there will be plenty of attention on the players, there will also be some eyes on the coaching staff. The Jim Hulton era of Sea Dogs hockey is set to begin – and it's no doubt going to bring a fresh style to Saint John.