Boost For The Blueline

SAINT JOHN – The Saint John Sea Dogs’ blueline is getting a boost.

The Quebec Major Junior Hockey League club announced today that they have acquired Charles-Olivier Roussel from the Blainville-Boisbriand Armada in exchange for a 2012 fifth-round pick and 2013 first-round selection.

Roussel, a 20-year old defenseman, will join forward Danick Gauthier and goaltender Mathieu Corbeil as the team’s trio if overagers.

“Charles-Olivier is a quality veteran in this league and we believe he will fit in well with what is already a strong blueline,” said Sea Dogs director of hockey operations Mike Kelly in a team release.

Roussel, a six-foot-one, 202-pound Nashville Predators prospect who was selected in the second round of the 2009 National Hockey League Entry Draft, recorded five goals and 25 assists in 59 games with the Montreal Junior/Armada franchise last season. He added a goal and three helpers in 10 post-season games before the Junior were upset in the second-round by the Lewiston Maineiacs.

Hockey’s Future calls Roussel’s 2010-11 campaign “disastrous.”

Prior to joining the Junior, he spent four seasons with the Shawinigan Cataractes. In 2009-10 he set career highs in goals with 15, assists with 36 and points with 51. The Cataractes selected him third overall in the 2007 QMJHL Entry Draft, the same year the Sea Dogs took Simon Despres with the top pick.

“Roussel's multi-faceted game attracts attention because he has the ability to fill whatever role is asked of him,” writes Hockey’s Future. “Whether it is quarterbacking a power play and threading a pass, or shutting down the opposition's top offensive weapons or even physically intimidating the opposing team, Roussel has the ability to accomplish the task without much difficulty.”

The Sea Dogs play two games this weekend at Harbour Station and according to the Sea Dogs website he “could be in the lineup.”

This is a big acquisition by the Sea Dogs. There is no question Saint John’s defense needed to be improved at some point with the departures of Despres and Eric Gelinas.

It’s been a good couple of days for Saint John who received news yesterday that Jonathan Huberdeau would be returning to junior.