Notebook: Wildcats win lottery

Vincent Ethier/QMJHL

The Moncton Wildcats were the winners of Wednesday's QMJHL Draft Lottery.

The Wildcats had the second best odds of winning the draft lottery behind the Chicoutimi Sagueneens, who will be picking second. Moncton hasn't selected first overall since 2018 when they drafted defenseman Brandon Gormley.

Here's who will (currently) be picking in the top-five of June's QMJHL Entry Draft.

1st pick – Moncton Wildcats (from Val-d’Or)

2nd pick – Chicoutimi Saguenéens (from Acadie-Bathurst)

3rd pick – Blainville-Boisbriand Armada

4th pick – Val-d’Or Foreurs (from Saint John)

5th pick – Rimouski Océanic (from Charlottetown)

Val-d'Or's pick was originally Saint John's and was dealt to the Foreurs in the Jonathan Lemieux trade.

At this time, it looks like forward Caleb Desnoyers will be picked first overall. Desnoyers' older brother, Elliot Desnoyers, was taken 18th overall by the Wildcats in the 2018 QMJHL Entry Draft and was traded to the Halifax Mooseheads two seasons later.

The 2023 QMJHL Entry Draft takes place Saturday, June 10 in Sherbrooke.

FIRST ROUND PICKS

Here's how the first round of this year's QMJHL Entry Draft is currently scheduled to go. There will no doubt be some trades and movement.

L’ordre de sélection de la première ronde pour le repêchage de la LHJMQ

1st round draft order for the QMJHL Draft #Qdraft @ScoutingService pic.twitter.com/2L9lpKv3hQ

— Jérôme Bérubé (@Jerome_Berube) April 26, 2023

Chicoutimi has two compensation picks for players who did not report to the club. The rights of those players have been relinquished. 

DRAFT BROADCAST

For those unable to make it to Sherbrooke for June's QMJHL Entry Draft, there is some good news.

From a recent QMJHL news release:

The 2023 QMJHL Entry Draft will be held at the Palais des Sports Léopold-Drolet in Sherbrooke, QC on June 10. The draft’s first round will be broadcasted live on Eastlink Community TV as well as on CHL TV. Fenplast will once again be the presenting partner of the event.

The Sea Dogs are currently not scheduled to select in the first round.

MORE 2025 INTEREST

The Rimouski Oceanic have once again confirmed their interest in hosting the 2025 Memorial Cup. Rimouski last hosted the event in 2009.

Rimouski veut toujours accueillir la coupe Memorial 2025. La haute direction de l'équipe travaille activement à sa candidature pour dans deux ans. #lesoleil

— Mikaël Lalancette (@MikLalancette) April 25, 2023

The Shawinigan Cataractes, who hosted the very memorable 2012 tournament, are examining the possibility of a 2025 bid as well, Steve Turcotte of Le Nouvelliste reported this past week.

The Moncton Wildcats are also believed to be interested in hosting in 2025.

A Quebec-based team hasn't hosted the Memorial Cup tournament since 2015 in Quebec City. Halifax hosted in 2019 and Saint John in 2022.

Kamloops will host this year's event while Saginaw will host next year.

ROUYN CHANGES

The Rimouski Oceanic aren't the only QMJHL team looking for a new head coach.

The Rouyn-Noranda Huskies, who are hitting the upward swing of their rebuild much like the Oceanic, have decided not to renew the contract of head coach Brad Yetman.

Yetman, a former QMJHL goaltender who is only 31, has spent the past four seasons as a member of the Huskies coaching staff. He has been the club's head coach for the past two.

Yetman, like Sea Dogs head coach Travis Crickard, is a Newfoundlander.

The Huskies finished fourth in the QMJHL's Western Conference this past season with a 37-24-4-3 record. They were eliminated in the second round of the playoffs by the Gatineau Olympiques.

NEW POD EP

This week on The Hockey News on the Q, Will MacLaren and I discuss the QMJHL's semifinals, changes in Rimouski, video review upgrades and more.

.@willmacwriter and @station_nation set up the riveting @QMJHL semifinal matchups, discuss why the league will install more replay cameras and more: https://t.co/YuDez8mCiC

— The Hockey News (@TheHockeyNews) April 26, 2023

OTHER THINGS

• The Pittsburgh Tribune-Review takes a look at former Sea Dogs forward Raivis Ansons and how his first full season of pro hockey went as a member of the AHL's Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins.
• Global News has a story on the Halifax Mooseheads' playoff run, which includes an interview with former Sea Dogs forward Josh Lawrence.
• Stephane Leroux of RDS is predicting a Gatineau/Sherbrooke final. JF Plante of the Gatineau newspaper Le Droit tweeted that nobody he has spoken to predicts a Mooseheads series win over the Phoenix.
• There continues to be talk about what to do with Chicoutimi's aging Georges Vezina Centre, reports Radio-Canada.
• Charles-Antoine Dumont, a sixth-round pick of the Sea Dogs in the 2018 QMJHL Entry Draft, has committed to playing at McGill University next season. Dumont just finished his overage season that was split between the Drummondville Voltigeurs and Baie-Comeau Drakkar.
• Grand Bay-Westfield native Lynden Breen, a fifth-round pick of the Sea Dogs in the 2017 QMJHL Entry Draft, led the NCAA in shorthanded goals this past season with four. Breen had 21 goals and 36 points in 36 games at the University of Maine.