The 16-year-old was selected by the Sea Dogs in the seventh round of this year's QMJHL Entry Draft and attended training camp. He dropped in the draft because of his NCAA intentions and was expected to leave Dogs camp after 48 hours in order to maintain his eligibility.
That has all changed.
The Sea Dogs have signed the Fredericton native and he is expected to play in tonight's pre-season contest in Bathurst. Game time is 7 p.m. at the KC Irving Regional Centre.
Normally this news would mean a guaranteed roster spot, but the opposite is going to happen in this case. Because of a league rule that limits the amount of 16-year-old players a team can carry on its roster (it's typically four but exceptions have been made to allow five), there is no room for Stairs. Instead he'll be an affiliate player, "joining the team throughout the season for practices, select games, and training."
Stairs spent last season at Rothesay Netherwood, recording four goals and 11 assists in 21 games. He'll join the South Kent Selects Academy in Connecticut for the 2018-19 season.
“It is an honour to join such a great organization” said Stairs in a news release. “Obviously the Sea Dogs had a tremendous draft and in two to three years’ time, this group is going to be an amazing team. It’s somewhere hockey players want to play.”
Stairs was ranked 26th by QMJHL Central Scouting entering the draft. Saint John has successfully added six of the top 30 ranked prospects from this year's draft class.
Saint John has seemingly turned their fortunes around when it comes to landing Maritime players with NCAA intentions. Josh Lawrence and Charlie DesRoches did so previously and both are expected to be on this year's squad.
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