Final Draft Thoughts & Notes

How did the Saint John Sea Dogs do at the QMJHL Entry Draft? I think most of us would agree they did okay.

When looking at Saint John’s draft, I don’t think any of us, at the moment anyways, can say it was mind blowingly excellent. At the same time, it certainly wasn’t terrible. Al from HockeyProspect.com gave the Sea Dogs a letter grade of ‘B’ and that seems like a fair assessment. A few years from now we could give this draft an ‘A’… or a ‘D.’ We shall see what happens.

Saint John didn’t get the amount of hyped, well known players like Charlottetown and Cape Breton got, but hopefully Darrell Young and crew are pleased with their crop. Young and staff certainly know more about the draft class than I do.

The Sea Dogs made a few intriguing picks, like trading a 2015 fourth round pick for the 91^st overall pick and using it to select Jake Massie who played high school hockey in Quebec last season. They made another trade to get a second pick in the eighth round where they picked 5’7”, 136 lbs defenseman Marshall Rifai.

Like any draft, it’s hard to offer judgements just a few days after it happened. This year’s is especially difficult considering this is Darrell Young’s first draft as captain of the ship.

So, for the time being, maybe it’s best to give the Dogs a grade of 'TBD.' Hopefully a few years from now we can look back and say firmly that this draft was a success.

Some other random notes and thoughts from the draft…

• As always, the QMJHL put on a solid event that can be enjoyed by all. Get with it, OHL and WHL.
• Pretty cool how Jonathan Hubereau and the Sea Dogs stay connected, especially after all the hockey ops turnover that has taken place over the past couple years.
• MAtv had some issues this year as the stream was lost about halfway through the first round. I couldn’t get it back until the break before the second round. What I did see was good, though, and it’s a great resource to follow along with. The QMJHL Draft has come a long way technology wise over the past five years.
• The Titan’s new jersey and logo look solid. Their old logo wasn’t even that bad, but this is a definite upgrade.
• Luke Green could be an elite offensive defenseman in this league. By the sounds of it, he won't have any trouble adjusting to the speed of the QMJHL next year, either. Should be fun to watch.
• Great to see the Dogs take Luke's twin brother, Matt, with their second round pick. It may have been a bit high, but the Dogs didn't pick again until the fourth round and I'm sure getting him was a priority. Imagine the drama if another team had taken him...
• Gatineau went off the board in the first round, picking Matt Sartoris 12th overall. Sartoris was ranked 38th by HockeyProspect.com and 70th by QMJHL Central Scouting.
• With the final pick of the first round, Victoriaville selected Olivier Huot. He is listed at roughly 6’5” and 250 lbs.
• Speaking of size, there weren’t a lot of small players taken in the first round. The shortest was Samuel Girard (5’9”) while the lightest was Thomas Gregoire (149 lbs).
• The Moncton Wildcats could have easily slept in until noon or so. The ‘Cats didn’t make their first selection until the end of the second round. To the surprise of nobody, Moncton picked a bunch of Americans just like last year. Among them was the highly touted Chad Krys who was taken in the seventh round.
• The Screaming Eagles pulled off one of the biggest trades of the day, acquiring 20-year old goaltender Francois Brassard from the Remparts in exchange for a 3^rd and 5^th round pick. Quebec then swapped that 3^rd round pick to Charlottetown for goaltender Eric Brassard.
• Interesting that both of Saint John’s American picks came from Thayer Academy, the former home of Sir Charles Coyle. Might mean nothing, but it’s something!
• Blade Mann-Dixon was definitely the coolest name in the draft and possibly the best name in the history of human civilization.
• It'll be interesting to see Mann-Dixon compete at training camp. He's very small - but like Sebastien Auger - is very good at stopping pucks.
• Why you stick around until the end of the draft: near the end of round 14, Gatineau acquired Louick Marcotte for second round picks in 2015 and 2016. Marcotte had 100 points with the Foreurs last season.
• Another significant trade saw Andrew Ryan traded to Bathurst for a couple picks.
• I wasn’t paying close attention to what people were saying on stage, but I don’t think President’s Cup champion Val-d’Or Foreurs got many congrats messages.
• Import Draft is on July 2. Buckle up.
• Even with the draft done, there are still plenty of questions about this year's Sea Dogs roster. Who are these free agents? Who will be taken in the Import Draft? What's up with the 20-year old situation? Who will be Auger's backup? 

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