NHL season begins for former Sea Dogs

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Will a former Saint John Sea Dog raise the Stanley Cup for a third straight season?

Mathieu Joseph and the Tampa Bay Lightning have lifted the trophy the past two seasons. Joseph remains the only Sea Dogs alumnus to win the Stanley Cup.

Joseph and the Lightning certainly have a shot at a third straight championship - but a number of other former Dogs will be in contention as well.

Here's the full list of former Sea Dogs who will start the 2021-22 season in the NHL (in no particular order):

Mike Hoffman - Montreal Canadiens

Nathan Beaulieu - Winnipeg Jets

Jonathan Huberdeau - Florida Panthers

Charlie Coyle - Boston Bruins

Jakub Zboril - Boston Bruins

Matthew Highmore - Vancouver Canucks

Julien Gauthier - New York Rangers

Thomas Chabot - Ottawa Senators

Mathieu Joseph - Tampa Bay Lightning

Eric Gelinas (Carolina Hurricanes), Joe Veleno (Detroit Red Wings) and Alex D'Orio (Pittsburgh Penguins) will all start the season in the AHL it appears but have a chance of being called up at some point.

The Rangers bench also features former Sea Dogs coaches Gerard Gallant, Mike Kelly and Jim Midgley.

One player who is noticeably absent from this list: Tomas Jurco, who doesn't appear to have signed anywhere yet. He appeared in three games with Slovakia at Olympic qualifying.

The NHL season begins tonight in Tampa.