REPORT: COUSINEAU TRADE A DONE DEAL

RDS is reporting that the PEI Rocket and Saint John Sea Dogs are expected to announce in the next few hours that goaltender Marco Cousineau will be traded to the Sea Dogs. In exchange, the Sea Dogs will give the Rocket four draft picks over the next two seasons.

Halifax Mooseheads play-by-play man John Moore, a trusted source around the QMJHL, has also confirmed on his Twitter page that two sources have told him that Cousineau heading to Saint John is a done deal.

The Sea Dogs host the Rocket tonight at 7:00 pm at Harbour Station which only strengthens the reports of the deal being close to finished. No lineup notes for tonight’s game have been announced.

The Rocket have been holding a fire sale all day. They traded forwards Joel Champagne and Chris Doyle to Victoriaville earlier today. They also acquired Michael Stinziani from the Chicoutimi Sagueneens.

Cousineau has struggled this season at times but is a proven goaltender with big game experience. He has a record of 10-14-0 this season and has a goals against average of 3.40. He has one shutout which was a 4-0 win over Saint John on October 13.

The 20-year-old goaltender led the Drummondville Voltigeurs to the Presidents Cup last season. After being traded from Baie-Comeau mid-season, he went 12-4-0 with the Volts and then 13-3-0 in the post season. In the 2009 Mastercard Memorial Cup, he was named the best goaltender of the tournament.

In 2008, he was drafted in the third round (83rd overall) by the Anaheim Ducks in the NHL Entry Draft.

With Cousineau being an overage goalie, the Sea Dogs will have to trade now number one goaltender Marc-Antoine Gelinas. The other two 20-year-olds in Mike Hoffman and Nicholas Petersen will not traded unless director of hockey operations Mike Kelly wants to be fired.

This deal has been rumored for just over a week now. The transaction would end the speculation of Jake Allen coming to the Sea Dogs. RDS reports that Allen may be part of a blockbuster involving Alex Wall of the Junior in exchange for Cape Breton’s Olivier Roy and Logan Shaw.