Sea Dogs Hold Draft Flexibility

By Kevin Chambers | SN Staff

The Saint John Sea Dogs currently have three first round draft selections in the 2015 QMJHL Draft, which gets underway this Saturday in Sherbrooke, QC. Over the next few days we will be looking at different aspects of the draft with some of the options that the Sea Dogs have with their current draft picks. Also this week and leading up to the draft, we’ll go over some of the draft’s prospects that could potentially be Sea Dogs players as well as produce a mock draft for the first round - which I’m sure will be chewed apart by the many trades I expect to see on draft day.

So we start our draft coverage with a look at just a few of the draft options the Sea Dogs have this year.  It’s certainly one of the most intriguing drafts in the franchise’s history – and with three picks in the top ten there are no shortage of options.

The best place to start is at the top where the Sea Dogs have won the coin toss for the fourth time in four attempts – clearly this is a strength the team will not need to be address at the draft.  The top pick in this year’s draft has had plenty of attention and, as of today, it’s still unclear what is going to happen.  Joseph Veleno (Quebec) had applied for the “Exceptional Status” rule but had missed the deadline, thus his request had been denied. That was until recently when John Moore tweeted that Hockey Canada had been reconsidering the Veleno application. At this point we have no idea what will happen but it’s certainly a headache for people that might be trying to prepare a draft guide or a mock draft. It will certainly be interesting to follow this story as the week progresses and we inch closer to draft day. No matter the outcome of the Veleno situation, don’t expect the Sea Dogs to trade out of the No. 1 slot as there are three excellent young QMJHL prospects available including Shane Bowers (Nova Scotia), Maxime Comtois (Quebec) and his teammate Antoine Morand (Quebec) who are all very skilled players and future stars in the QMJHL.

It may not take long for the Sea Dogs to make more noise on draft day this year. The feeling is by draft day we should have a pretty good idea of who Saint John will take with the first overall selection. It’s the picks shortly after that pick when things could get very interesting for the Sea Dogs and their fans. Currently the Sea Dogs also hold the ninth and tenth selections in the first round of the draft and the Sea Dogs’ brass will have several options to consider.

Option #1 – trade up: there is no question the Sea Dogs are trying to move up in the draft – in fact, general manager Darrell Young has confirmed that he did make an offer to the Acadie-Bathurst Titan for the No. 2 selection in the draft. The Titan GM has confirmed there was an offer and he also mentions that he did deny the initial request; but, it’s clear Young is interested in moving up on the draft order.

Option #2 – trade down: this could be an attractive option for Young as well. While the Sea Dogs have three picks in the top 10 this could give them an extra pick or two should they elect to drop down in the order if things don’t work out with moving up. This year’s draft class has several players ranked near the top that aren’t separated by very much in terms of overall abilities – they have different strengths but the fact they are close might make moving down an option worth exploring.

Option #3 – make the selections: sometimes the best moves are the moves you don’t make and this could be true to form in this draft. Some would question whether the Sea Dogs really need those extra players they could acquire by trading down. Let’s assume the Sea Dogs drafted three players all born in 1999 (or 2000) and they also acquire a new import player at the CHL Import Draft. This would give the Sea Dogs the potential to have at least 17 players born in 1997 or later – which in QMJHL age terms would make them 18 and under. Standing pat would mean picking up three of the top 16-year-old (or younger) players in this region. With doing nothing at all and just making their selections the Sea Dogs would be adding some very good young hockey players to their already impressive young lineup.

Option #4 – trade the pick or picks for current QMJHL players: there is no doubt the Sea Dogs want to be very careful not to jump the gun on what they are building so this seems like it may not be the best option. Nonetheless, this is an option they should at least consider. They do still have plenty of youth in their lineup and many, including Sea Dogs players and management, know that the team really needs to show an improvement over last season and this could certainly help guide things in that direction. Young has made it very clear he wants to improve the offense on this team and using the ninth and/or tenth selection could get a jump-start on this process.

Obviously there are other scenarios that could unfold. Maybe they use one pick to move up and move down with the other - also a very good option. One thing is for sure though – this draft has plenty of intrigue for fans of the Saint John Sea Dogs as well as their players, coaching staff and management. It definitely appears the Sea Dogs are a team on the rise and it will continue to grow this Saturday at the 2015 QMJHL Draft.

Stay tuned for much more draft coverage to follow throughout the week.