D'Orio, Pare Reassigned By Dogs

The Sea Dogs made a significant roster move today, reassigning two of their three first round picks from this year’s QMJHL Entry Draft.

Goaltender Alex D’Orio, viewed as the second best netminder in the 2015 draft class by most prospect experts, and forward Cedric Pare have both been sent down.

D’Orio was selected ninth overall by Saint John while Pare was 10^th.

"We were extremely pleased with the performances of both Alex and Cedric in our training camp this year," Young said. "These moves are designed to give them a chance to play a lot, and be ready to become big parts of our future here in Saint John."

While it’s not overly common to see top 10 picks sent back to midget, it’s probably a move that should be made more often in many cases. It may be a lower level of hockey, but theses players are going to get significantly more playing time in AAA than if they stayed in Saint John.

With the Sea Dogs seemingly set to start the year with Marc-Andre Turcotte and Alex Bishop on their roster, it’s hard to say just how many starts D’Orio would have gotten. Pare probably would have been on the team’s fourth line and scratched every now and then.

I like what Jerome Berube tweeted about the moves: it’s not a sprint it’s a marathon. The Sea Dogs want D’Orio and Pare to be long term impact players, and if that means they need some additional seasoning, than so be it.

Saint John’s training camp roster now includes 25 players: two goaltenders, eight defenseman and 15 forwards. This total includes Jakub Zboril who is currently with the Boston Bruins.

Photo: Marc Henwood/Station Nation