Sea Dogs to acquire Inniss, Girouard

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The Saint John Sea Dogs will announce a number of trades on Wednesday.

The Sea Dogs are expected to acquire defenseman Christopher Inniss from the Rimouski Oceanic and forward Nicholas Girouard from the Drummondville Voltigeurs. Both deals have been rumoured/reported for some time.

The Inniss acquisition will complete the December trade between Saint John and Rimouski that saw Nicolas Guay and Jeffrey Durocher swap places. It's not quite clear what the Sea Dogs are sending to the Oceanic to finalize the deal, but we'll obviously find out very soon.

Voici d'autres transactions #LHJMQ

Zachary L'Heureux de MON à HFX
Eliot Desnoyers de MON à HFX
Christopher Innis de RIM à STJN
Alexandre Joncas de SHE à BLB

Un gardien de but de 20 ans s'en va aussi avec les #Remparts

— Stephane Leroux (@StephRDSJunior) June 2, 2020

Inniss, a 19-year-old defenseman, will bring some much needed sandpaper and experience to the Saint John backend. He's not here to score goals - he recorded two goals and 14 assists with Rimouski last season - which won't be an problem given Saint John's already dangerous defense. The Dogs need help defending, and Inniss will provide that.

Girouard, a 19-year-old forward, will be acquired by Saint John in exchange for two second round picks in the 2021 QMJHL Entry Draft, according to reports. The Sea Dogs currently have their own second rounder and Sherbrooke's for the 2021 draft, according to the Quebec fan forum.

L'attaquant Nicholas Girouard passera aux @SJSeaDogs en retour de deux choix de deuxième ronde en 2021. @Voltigeurs_DRU #Voltigeurs #Drummondville #SeaDogs #LHJMQ https://t.co/U8Eb2tJDBI

— Jonathan Habashi (@JonathanHabashi) June 2, 2020

Girouard will provide more of a physical presence up front. His offensive numbers have also been gradually improving, recording 16 goals and 23 assists in 61 games with the Volts last season.

Both Inniss and Girouard could return as overage players in Saint John's "go for it" season in 2021-22. The Sea Dogs do not have a great core of 2001 born players, so these acquisitions are a major help.

The Sea Dogs will also be sending prospect Robert Orr to the Halifax Mooseheads, reports Mikael Lalancette.

Comme c’est déjà sorti ailleurs #LHJMQ :

Zachary L'Heureux à Halifax
Eliot Desnoyers à Halifax
Adam McCormick à Bathurst
Justin Ducharme et Gabriel Villeneuve à Val-d’Or
Nicholas Girouard et Christopher Innis à Saint-Jean
Robert Orr à Halifax

— Mikaël Lalancette (@MLalancetteTVA) June 2, 2020

Orr, a fifth-round pick in last year's QMJHL Entry Draft, recorded 20 goals and 25 assists in 42 games with the Lac St-Louis Lions last season. He was ranked as the 30th best prospect available for last year's draft by HockeyProspect.com.

The Sea Dogs will likely address some of these expected deals during a Facebook Live event tonight, which begins at 7:30 p.m.

The QMJHL's first trade window of the week takes place Wednesday between 10 a.m. and 1 p.m. Atlantic.