Big day of trades in QMJHL

Candice Ward/CHL

To say it was an eventful day on the QMJHL trade front would be an understatement.

Three of the four teams that reached the league's semifinals this year began dismantling their rosters while a number of other clubs began to load up for runs next year and the following season.

Here's a quick recap of the day's biggest deals.

• One of the team's that loaded up Wednesday was the Rouyn-Noranda Huskies, making big deals to acquire Gatineau's Antonin Verreault along with Memorial Cup champions William Rousseau and Jeremy Langlois from the Quebec Remparts.
• Gatineau traded 20-year-old defenseman Olivier Boutin to the Acadie-Bathurst Titan who then flipped him to the Moncton Wildcats.
• The Wildcats had an eventful day. Along with acquiring Boutin, they traded away goaltender Vincent Filion to the Rimouski Oceanic. They also dealt Hugo Marcil and Manix Sarrasin to the Sherbrooke Phoenix.
• The Phoenix began to unload their roster, dealing 44-goal scorer Justin Gill to the Baie-Comeau Drakkar. The Phoenix also traded 20-year-old forward Milo Roelens to the Titan.
• Sherbrooke's Ethan Gauthier is expected to be traded to Drummondville at some point before the end of Saturday's draft. The return is not known at this time.
• The Chicoutimi Sagueneens made one of the biggest trades of the day, acquiring 18-year-old goaltender Mathys Fernandez and the fourth overall pick in Saturday's draft from the Val-d'Or Foreurs in exchange for a bunch of picks, including Saturday's 11th overall selection and a first round pick (Cape Breton) in 2024.
• Gatineau also traded Charles-Antoine Pilote to the Foreurs.
• Quebec traded defenseman Charle Truchon, who was a standout at the Memorial Cup, to the Oceanic.

There were a bunch of other trades as well, many of which didn't involve players and were completing deals made at Christmas. The list can be found on the QMJHL website.

The Saint John Sea Dogs made just one trade Wednesday, completing the Cam MacDonald deal with the Olympiques.

The 2023 QMJHL Entry Draft takes place Saturday morning at 11 a.m. Atlantic in Sherbrooke. Moncton will select first followed by Chicoutimi, Blainville-Boisbriand, Chicoutimi (again) and Rimouski. The Sagueneens, who made four picks in the first round last year, are currently scheduled to select second, fourth and eighth overall, respectively.