Two Sea Dogs picks taken in NHL Draft

Two Saint John Sea Dogs draft picks were selected in this year's NHL Draft.

Forward Ben MacDonald, a second-round pick of the Sea Dogs in the 2020 American draft, was selected in the third-round by the Seattle Kraken. Forward Michael Callow, meanwhile, a 14th-round pick of the Sea Dogs in the 2020 QMJHL Entry Draft, went in the fifth-round to the Anaheim Ducks.

MacDonald, a Weston, MA native, spent last season at the Noble & Greenough US prep school where he recorded 14 goals and 29 points in 22 games. He has committed to playing in the BCHL next season with the West Kelowna Warriors. He is expected to play at Harvard University in 2023-24.

Welcome to the fam! 🦑

With the 91st overall pick, the #SeaKraken select Ben MacDonald. pic.twitter.com/OlqWnPCJ0y

— Seattle Kraken (@SeattleKraken) July 8, 2022

Callow, a South Boston native, recorded 26 goals and 41 points in 25 games with the St. Sebastian's US prep school last season. He is committed to Harvard as well, beginning next season.

We nab winger Michael Callow of St. Sebastian's School in Massachusetts in the fifth round (154th overall). #DucksDraft | @Honda pic.twitter.com/TTJUoOxixK

— Anaheim Ducks (@AnaheimDucks) July 8, 2022

It's unlikely either will join the Sea Dogs, especially where they are Harvard commits.

QMJHL PICKS

19 players from the QMJHL were chosen in this year's NHL Draft. Only two were picked in the first-round.

On revient sur la séance de sélection 2022 dans quelques instants a @hockey360 #NHLDraft pic.twitter.com/l74k0vKwE8

— Stephane Leroux (@StephRDSJunior) July 8, 2022

82 players from the CHL were selected, including five players from both the North Bay Battalion and Swift Current Broncos.

BOOTH'S BROTHER

Shawinigan Cataractes defenseman Angus Booth, the brother of former Sea Dogs goaltender Callum Booth, was a fourth-round pick of the Los Angeles Kings.

Photo ☝️ : Draft 2015 de Callum Booth

Photo ✌️ : Draft 2022 d’Angus Booth pic.twitter.com/R8SQH5Vmmu

— Cataractes de Shawinigan (@Cataractes_Shaw) July 9, 2022

EXCEPTIONAL

This year's NHL Draft had plenty of drama with Shane Wright falling to the Kraken at No. 4. Wright falling likely increases the chances of him returning to the Ontario Hockey League for another season.

CHL Exceptional Status Players and where they were picked at the NHL Draft

1st - John Tavares, Aaron Ekblad, Connor McDavid
4th - Shane Wright
30th - Joseph Veleno
81st - Sean Day
TBD - Connor Bedard, Michael Misa https://t.co/uqZM7mh4zo

— Lucas Punkari (@lpunkari) July 7, 2022

BACK TO RUSSIA?

As of now, it sounds like Ivan Miroshnichenko, who was a pick of the Blainville-Boisbriand Armada in this year's CHL Import Draft, will return to Russia to play the 2022-23 season.

The Washington Capitals selected Miroshnichenko with the 20th overall pick Thursday night.

Miroshnichenko said he intends to stay in North America for a little bit - development camp is next week in Arlington, Va. - but the plan is ultimately for him to return to Russia and rejoin his team there. #Caps

— Tarik El-Bashir (@Tarik_ElBashir) July 8, 2022

We'll see what happens here given the current complications of getting Russian players to North America. Miroshnichenko would be a huge add to an Armada offense that will feature Patrick Guay and Josh Lawrence.

THIS AND THAT

• Sea Dogs forward Ryan Francis, who was not signed by the Calgary Flames prior to this year's deadline, was not picked in the draft. He is now an unrestricted free agent.
• While no Sea Dogs were picked in this year's draft (which was expected to be the case), a few should earn development/rookie camp invites as free agents.
• The Boston Bruins selected Rimouski Oceanic defenseman Frederic Brunet in the fifth-round. According to NBC Sports Boston, this is the first time the Bruins have selected a player from the QMJHL since Sea Dogs forward Cedric Pare in 2017.
• Three players who once played in the Maritime Hockey League were picked: Marc-Andre Gaudet (Grand Falls Rapids/St. Louis Blues), Landon Sim (Weeks Crushers/St. Louis Blues) and Eli Barnett (South Shore Lumberjacks/San Jose Sharks).
• Defenseman Simon Nemec, who went second overall to the New Jersey Devils, was taken fourth overall by the Cape Breton Eagles in the 2021 CHL Import Draft. Cape Breton's top pick in this year's Import Draft, forward Jiri Kulich, went 28th overall to the Buffalo Sabres. 
• Mason McTavish, who, of course, played with the Hamilton Bulldogs at the 2022 Memorial Cup, announced the Anaheim Ducks' first round selection - which ended up being Nathan Gaucher of the Quebec Remparts.
• 20-year-old Patrick Guay went in the fifth-round to the Vegas Golden Knights. Guay, now a member of the Blainville-Boisbriand Armada, would have had plenty of Golden Knights' scouts watching him last season given that his Charlottetown Islanders teammate was Lukas Cormier, a third-round pick of Vegas in 2020.
• Offensive defenseman Miguel Tourigny of the Acadie-Bathurst Titan went in the seventh-round to the Montreal Canadiens.
• Luke Devlin, the son of Toronto Raptors play-by-play man Matt Devlin, was a sixth-round pick of the Pittsburgh Penguins. Devlin, who played most of last season at St. Andrew's College, is committed to Cornell for the 2022-23 season.