The CHL announced in a press release Monday night that playoffs and the Memorial Cup would not be held this season due to the worsening COVID-19 pandemic. While it's hard to think about hockey right now, let's try and do just that. We likely could all use a distraction for a bit.
So what now for the Saint John Sea Dogs? This is certainly an odd end to the season for the team, but chances are the season was soon coming to an end anyways. As previously mentioned, the Sea Dogs are one of the fortunate teams who are not greatly impacted by what's currently going on.
So as the off-season begins, here are some items to keep an eye on.
QMJHL Draft Lottery
To be held on a yet-to-be-determined date, the Sea Dogs, via the Baie-Comeau Drakkar, have the fourth best odds of winning the right to select first overall in this year's QMJHL Entry Draft.
Prise 2.— Mikaël Lalancette (@MLalancetteTVA) March 17, 2020
Voici les détails de la loterie du prochain repêchage.
Gatineau 9 chances sur 21 (42,9%)
Gatineau 6 sur 21 (28,6%)
Gatineau 3 sur 21 (14,3%)
Saint-Jean 2 sur 21 (9,5%)
Québec 1 sur 21 (4,8%)
Les @LesOlympiques auront donc 86% des chances de repêcher 1er. #tvasports
QMJHL Entry Draft
Originally scheduled for June 6 in Sherbrooke, the draft will take place OHL style and be held online this year. The league hasn't really come out and confirmed that the date will stay the same, but let's assume (and hope) for now that it will. Saint John currently has two picks in the first round: the Drakkar's lottery pick and Drummondville's 12th overall pick.
Trades
The Sea Dogs have at least one trade lined up to complete the Jeffrey Durocher/Nicolas Guay deal made in December. We'll see what happens beyond that. Saint John is in an interesting position because they're nearing their contender window but still have quite a few future draft picks that they could move to help out their current core.
Hall of Fame
The Sea Dogs' Hall of Fame weekend has been cancelled and the team is looking at alternate formats for their 2020 induction ceremony. Former coaches Gerard Gallant and Mike Kelly were expected to be this year's inductees, following Jonathan Huberdeau (2018) and Mike Thomas (2019).
On behalf of the entire Sea Dogs organization past, present, and future - congratulations Captain @thommerbomber on being inducted into the Sea Dogs Hall of Fame. You are so deserving of that blue jacket. Next year is Gerard and Mike’s turn. @GoldenKnights @chlhockey @sjseadogs pic.twitter.com/7oWlZRlwPN— Trevor Georgie (@georgietrev) June 17, 2019
Development camp
The Sea Dogs have cancelled the summer development camp they have held the past couple years, which coincided with Sea Dogs Hall of Fame weekend. So... no need to watch for that - but hopefully it returns in 2021.
Schedule release
The QMJHL has released its schedule around the same time as the draft in recent years. This is obviously not a normal off-season, so who knows what may happen - but it's worth keeping an eye on. Will the league wait until they know for certain camps will begin in August? Will schedule adjustments be made so the first few weeks of the season could be postponed if needed? Will all three CHL leagues be ready to go at the same time when the pandemic comes to an end?
Coaching staff moves
The Sea Dogs really left us with quite a cliffhanger to end the season. That ugly 8-2 home loss to Drummondville resulted in a lengthy closed door team meeting, the Telegraph-Journal reported, but we'll never know if the squad was able to pull a u-turn from that point on. Jeff Cowan made a noticeable positive impact when he took over the bench, but the team had been sliding the past few weeks of the season. Will he return as head coach? Will a new hire be made? What will the Dogs do with their assistant situation? All questions that should be answered in the coming weeks.
CHL Import Draft
Will the Sea Dogs make a pick this year? They'll be near the middle of the pack of the first round, but the Import Draft is more about who you know and less about where you choose. Both of Saint John's current imports, forward Maxim Cajkovic and defenseman Joona Lehmus, are eligible to return.
NHL Draft
At least two Sea Dogs - defensemen Jeremie Poirier and William Villeneuve - will be taken in this year's NHL Draft. Others could be chosen as well. The biggest question is when will the NHL Draft take place? With some wild NHL scheduling formats and ideas being tossed around, who knows. It was scheduled for June 26-27 in Montreal.
At least two Sea Dogs - defensemen Jeremie Poirier and William Villeneuve - will be taken in this year's NHL Draft. Others could be chosen as well. The biggest question is when will the NHL Draft take place? With some wild NHL scheduling formats and ideas being tossed around, who knows. It was scheduled for June 26-27 in Montreal.
No comments:
Post a Comment