First round recap

The Halifax Mooseheads surprised nobody with the first overall pick in the QMJHL Entry Draft on Saturday, selecting Benoit-Olivier Groulx.

Groulx was ranked first by QMJHL Central Scouting and HockeyProspect.com.

Meet your #1 Overall pick Benoit Olivier Groulx! #QDraft pic.twitter.com/V0wyU717AN

— Halifax Mooseheads (@HFXMooseheads) June 4, 2016

Then, in another not-all-that-surprising move, the Mooseheads made a big trade to acquire the second overall pick.

Moose trade 7th, 16th, 24th pick in this Draft and Rouyn-Noranda first round pick next year.

— Halifax Mooseheads (@HFXMooseheads) June 4, 2016

As expected, Halifax selected defenseman Jared McIsaac, who was the consensus No. 2 pick. It was reported earlier in week that McIsaac, a Truro native, did not want to report to Baie-Comeau.

The first goaltender to be taken in the draft went third overall to the Drummondville Voltigeurs. Olivier Rodrigue is considered the top netminder available in this draft class.

Rodrigue goes third. Best junior draft eligible goalie I've seen in my admittedly short career

— Gregory Hickman (@Gregory_Hickman) June 4, 2016

The Sherbrooke Phoenix had the fourth overall pick but traded the selection to the Chicoutimi Sagueneens.

TRADE
To CHI: 1st 2016 (4th), 2nd 2016 (32nd) & 7th 2016 (125th)
To SHE: Alexander Krief, 1st 2016 (10th), 2nd 2016 (28th), 1st 2017#QMJHL

— Nolan Reid (@Nolan_TQN) June 4, 2016

And then the Sags traded the pick to the Drakkar.

#QDraft CHI then sends 4 to BC for 8, 24 and RN first rounder 2017. McIsaac trade paying off already.

— Mike Sanderson (@MikeRSanderson) June 4, 2016

Finally, the Drakkar used the fourth overall pick to select forward Gabriel Fortier. He is the younger brother of Halifax’s Gabriel Fortier.

1/4 Baie-Comeau Gabriel Fortier, arguably fastest skater in the draft. Non-stop motor & great work ethic. Solid two-way forward. #Qdraft

— Jérôme Bérubé (@Jerome_Berube) June 4, 2016

But because there hadn’t been enough trades yet, the Acadie-Bathurst Titan traded the fifth overall pick to the Blainville-Boisbriand Armada. That pick was then sent to the Drakkar who, finally, drafted Xavier Bouchard.

The Titan then picked sixth and, as many predicted, selected defenseman Noah Dobson. The PEI native played for Red Bull Salzburg last season.

The Armada followed the Titan’s model and chose to keep the selection. With the pick, Blainville-Boisbriand chose Mathias Laferriere, who was the second Lac St-Louis Lions player to be picked.

The Sags picked eighth, taking forward Samuel Houde, who was ranked 13^th by Central Scouting and 14^th by HP.

Baie-Comeau picked yet again at No. 9. With their third pick in the top 10, the Drakkar selected forward Shawn Element. Element was ranked 18^th by Central Scouting and 22^nd by HP.

With the 10^th overall pick, the Sherbrooke Phoenix selected Anderson MacDonald of the Saint John Vito’s. MacDonald becomes the highest selected Vito’s player in Q draft history.

Saint John picked at 11^th overall and selected Olivier Mathieu, a speedy forward from the Magog Cantonniers.

#SeaDogs select Olivier Mathieu 11th overall #QMJHLDraft pic.twitter.com/43qI5FvNta

— John Moore (@rinkrant) June 4, 2016

At 12^th overall, Drummondville selected defenseman Xavier Bernard.

With the 13^th overall pick, the Screaming Eagles went off the board a bit, taking goaltender Kevin Mandolese. The netminder was ranked 21^st by Central Scouting and 30^th by HP.

After acquiring the 14^th overall pick from Cape Breton, the Quebec Remparts chose forward Andrew Coxhead. The Bedford, NS native has stated his intentions to play US hockey. He was ranked fifth by Central Scouting and 11^th by HP.

The Moncton Wildcats had the 15^th overall pick but, as usual, traded out of the first round.

#QDraft MON trades 15 and Jonathan Larter to BB for 50, 79, 82. Larter played for Summerside in the MHL last year.

— Mike Sanderson (@MikeRSanderson) June 4, 2016

With the pick, the Armada chose defenseman Jeremy Bucheler, who was ranked seventh by both Central Scouting and HP.

The Drakkar, with their fourth pick of the first round, picked forward Eduoard St-Laurent 16^th overall.

At 17^th overall, Victoriaville picked forward Cedric Desruisseaux.

The hometown Islanders finally got to take the stage with the 18^th overall pick. Charlottetown selected defense Marc-Olivier Alain with the pick.

With the last pick of the first round, Rouyn-Noranda chose forward Evan MacKinnon from the Steele Subaru Major Midgets.

Photo: Vincent Ethier/QMJHL Media