News & notes from the draft's opening round

SHERBROOKE, QC - The opening round of the 2023 QMJHL Entry Draft has come and gone.

As expected, the Moncton Wildcats selected forward Caleb Desnoyers with the first overall pick. Desnoyers, a two-way forward like his older bother Elliot Desnoyers, had 53 points in 42 games with the Saint-Hyacinthe Gaulois in the Quebec under-18 league last season. He added 23 points in 15 playoff games.

Caleb Desnoyers of @MonctonWildcast joins former Wildcats Steve Bernier and Brandon Gormley as No. 1 overall picks. His brother Elliot was 'Cats top pick in '19 and his uncle Simon Laliberte played four years with the Wildcats, captaining the team in his final year in 2000.

— Kevin Barrett (@KevinBarrettNB) June 10, 2023

The Chicoutimi Sagueneens picked second, taking goal scorer Emile Guite. Guite was Desnoyers' teammate in both Saint-Hyacinthe and Team Quebec at the Canada Winter Games.

Both Desnoyers and Guite were widely considered the best two players available in this year's draft.

The full list of draft picks can be found on the QMJHL website.

Here are a few other notes and takeaways from this year's first round.

• The Sags picked four times in the top-eight, taking Guite (second), forward Nathan Lecompte (fourth), defenseman Alex Huange (fifth) and defenseman Jonathan Prud'Homme (eighth).
• The top four picks were all forwards. Huange was the first defenseman taken at No. 5.
• Five picks were made in the first 30 minutes of the draft but the brakes were applied with the sixth selection, which saw the Drummondville Voltigeurs deal the pick to the Sherbrooke Phoenix in the long awaited Ethan Gauthier trade. The Phoenix then traded the pick to the Wildcats for pick No. 13 and a 2024 first rounder. Moncton used the pick to take forward Shawn Carrier who, like Desnoyers, was a member of Team Quebec at the Canada Winter Games.
• Shawinigan used a timeout before dealing pick No. 7 to to the Armada, who made their second pick of the first round by selecting defenseman Xavier Villeneuve. Villeneuve spent last season with the Pittsburgh Penguins Elite under-15 squad, the same team Saint John's Hunter Gartley played for.
• The top-eight picks were made by just three teams: Chicoutimi (four), Blainville-Boisbriand (two) and Moncton (two).
• New York Rangers forward and former Oceanic Alexis Lafreiniere took the stage with his old club and announced pick No. 10. The Oceanic selected goaltender William Lacelle with the pick — the first netminder selected.
• The top 10 picks featured six forwards, three defensemen and one goaltender. All 10 were from Quebec.
• After acquiring the pick in a trade with Drummondville, the Oceanic selected forward Tyson Goguen with the 14th overall pick. Goguen spent the 2021-22 season with the Moncton Hawks under-15 team before playing US prep school hockey with South Kent last year.
• Shawinigan acquired pick No. 16 from Gatineau to select forward Cole Chandler of Dartmouth Steele Subaru, the first Nova Scotian to be taken. Chandler was ranked seventh by QMJHL Central Scouting and eighth by HockeyProspect.com.
• Shawinigan picked again at No. 17 and took forward Jeremy Loranger, who was projected to be a fourth-round pick by Central Scouting but ranked 23rd by HockeyProspect.com. Loranger is from Trois-Rivieres, so he's essentially a local to Shawinigan.
• Moncton traded the 18th overall pick to Baie-Comeau, acquiring 18-year-old forward Vincent Collard. The Drakkar used the pick on forward Jabez Seymour, the top-ranked Newfoundlander in this year's draft. Seymour played US prep school hockey with South Kent last year.
• Forward Zachary Morin, ranked third by Central Scouting and seventh by HockeyProspect.com, was picked 19th overall by the Armada but was not in attendance. Morin is committed to the USHL's Youngstown Phantoms for next season and is believed to have intentions on playing NCAA hockey. If he doesn't report, the Armada can release his rights and receive a compensation pick in next year's draft.
• With the 20th and final pick, the Charlottetown Islanders selected forward Owen Conrad of the Pictou County Weeks Crushers.
• Only four Atlantic Canadians were selected in the first round — Goguen, Chandler, Seymour and Conrad.
• Before the draft, a quick montage of the past four Memorial Cup champions — all from the QMJHL — was played. There was also a montage with highlights from the past season.
• As is tradition at the draft, Oceanic forward Julien Beland, the QMJHL's scholastic player of the year, spoke before the event started.
• Folks always like arriving early for the draft. Parking was tough to find an hour before the event.
• Moncton went on the clock at 10:04 a.m. local time. The final pick was announced at 12:30 p.m.