Busy couple days of trades in QMJHL

Michael Hawkins/Saint John Sea Dogs

MONCTON - Simon Hughes is back in the Maritimes.

The former Saint John Sea Dogs forward was traded to the Charlottetown Islanders by the Drummondville Voltigeurs on the opening day of the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League's holiday trading period. In exchange for Hughes, the Islanders sent two fourth-round picks to the Voltigeurs.

A Stratford, PEI native, Hughes has five goals and two assists in 30 games with Drummondville this season.

Hughes, a second-round pick of the Sea Dogs in the 2020 QMJHL Entry Draft, appeared in seven games with the club during the COVID impacted 2020-21 season. The Sea Dogs traded Hughes to Drummondville in the 2021 deal that acquired William Dufour.

Drummondville also swapped overagers with the Baie-Comeau Drakkar, dealing away captain Charles-Antoine Dumont in exchange for Xavier Fortin. Dumont was a sixth-round pick of Saint John in the 2018 QMJHL Entry Draft but never played a game with the club.

It's been a busy first two days of the holiday trading period - but the Sea Dogs have yet to make any transactions. The deadline is Friday, Jan. 6.

Here's a quick look at some of the more notable deals that have been made so far...

• On Monday, there was a surprise deal between the Islanders and Gatineau Olympiques that saw 20-year-old goaltender Francesco Lapenna dealt to Gatineau.
• The Moncton Wildcats traded Francesco Iasenza to the Victoriaville Tigres in exchange for draft picks. The Wildcats also dealt Thomas Darcy to the Quebec Remparts.
• The Chicoutimi Sagueneens traded Marc-Andre Gaudet to the Sherbrooke Phoenix for a bunch of picks.
• As was speculated for months, Val-d'Or Foreurs captain Justin Robidas was traded to Quebec.
• The Halifax Mooseheads traded James Swan to the Blainville-Boisbriand Armada for a fourth-round pick in a deal that is believed to be connected to the Josh Lawrence transaction.
• The Cape Breton Eagles traded Francois-James Buteau to the Rouyn-Noranda Huskies. The Eagles also dealt Justin Cote to the Tigres.
• The Armada traded Alexis Gendron, one of the league's leading goal scorers, to the Olympiques. The Armada are in sell mode after a rough first half. They also traded Zach Biggar to the Eagles.
• The Acadie-Bathurst Titan have yet to make any deals. This is their first holiday trading period under Gordie Dwyer.
• The full list of trades can be found on the QMJHL website.