Dassylva reassigned; Duhamel called up

Michael Hawkins/Saint John Sea Dogs

Along with acquiring Tyler Peddle on Thursday, the Saint John Sea Dogs announced a couple other roster moves.

The team tweeted that defenseman Tristan Dassylva "has been reassigned from the roster" while 16-year-old d-man Olivier Duhamel has been called up for this weekend's games.

Defenceman Olivier Duhamel has been recalled from @RiverainsCCL for this weekend's games.

Additionally, Tristan Dassylva has been reassigned from the roster.#GoDogsGo pic.twitter.com/H4XO9Llf3r

— Saint John Sea Dogs (@SJSeaDogs) January 4, 2024

Duhamel, a second-round pick of the Sea Dogs in the 2023 QMJHL Entry Draft, made his debut on Thursday night and looked quite good. In 31 games with the Collège Charles-Lemoyne Riverains this season, Duhamel has five goals and nine assists.

Dassylva, meanwhile, had a goal and four assists in 31 games with Saint John in the first half. The 18-year-old will presumably rejoin the QJHL's Princeville Titan where he played 18 games last season.

With Dassylva released and Mathis Gauthier traded, there is more room available for Saint John's younger defensemen. Benjamin Amyot, Matthew MacLean, Jeremie Richard and even Duhamel (if he were to stick with the club) should all see increased ice time in the second half.

Saint John still has four other defenders with varying degrees of QMJHL experience: Matteo Mann, Nicolas Bilodeau, Nate Tivey and Joseph Ianniello.

While the Sea Dogs haven't made any truly franchise altering trades over the past few weeks, they've been one of the more active teams in a somewhat quiet trading period.

In
Coen Miller
Brody Fournier
Drew Elliott
Tyler Peddle

Out
Peter Reynolds
Chad Bellemare

Mathis Gauthier  
Noah Reinhart

That doesn't include the signing of Darien Reynolds or the releasing of Tristan Dassylva.

The QMJHL's trade deadline is Saturday, Jan. 6.