Draft lottery set for April 25

The Saint John Sea Dogs will find out on April 25 where their first choice will be in this year's QMJHL Entry Draft.

The league announced this week that the draft lottery will be held on April 25 at 7:30 p.m. Atlantic and will be broadcast on RDS. The Sea Dogs do not have their own first round pick but do own Gatineau's, which gives them a small but possible chance at landing the first overall choice.

From the league's press release:

Here are the teams that finished in the bottom five in the 2023-2024 overall standings: 

18- Val-d’Or Foreurs 

17- Québec Remparts (pick traded to Foreurs) 

16- Saint John Sea Dogs (pick traded to Eagles)  

15- Charlottetown Islanders (pick traded to Remparts)  

14- Gatineau Olympiques (pick traded to Sea Dogs)

 

The 21 balls in the lottery will be distributed as follows to determine who will draft first: 

18th place: 9 balls, 43% chance of drafting 1st  

17th place: 6 balls, 28% chance   

16th place: 3 balls, 14% chance  

15th place: 2 balls, 10% chance  

14th place: 1 ball, 5% chance

The Sea Dogs have had some legendary performances in the draft lottery over the years, so you can never count them out. This is a bit of an odd draft year though as there doesn't seem to be a real consensus on a No. 1 pick, so it may not matter a ton where Saint John picks. Plus, many of the top prospects available are playing the NCAA card. This could be a wild first round.

Saint John also owns the eighth overall pick (Blainville-Boisbriand Armada), which they acquired previously.

The 2024 QMJHL Entry Draft takes place June 7-8 at Moncton's Avenir Centre.

One top prospect that won't be available is Nova Scotian forward Aiden O'Donnell, who posted 46 points in 31 games with Steele Subaru this past season. He was also part of Team Canada's Youth Olympic Games team, a team that Sea Dogs head coach Travis Crickard was a part of.

O'Donnell was permitted entry into the OHL Draft because his father previously played in the league — an odd rule that has been used a handful of times in recent years. The Cole Harbour native was picked 14th overall by the Brantford Bulldogs on Friday night.

The @BulldogsOHL look to Nova Scotia for some first round talent, selecting centreman Aiden O'Donnell with the 14th overall pick! #OHLDraft pic.twitter.com/CAP8rTJGCh

— Ontario Hockey League (@OHLHockey) April 13, 2024

In other draft news, it sounds like the QMJHL's in-person draft is here to stay for the time being, reports Mikael Lalancette. There were obviously some concerns about this given that the NHL is moving to a virtual draft beginning next year.

Lalancette also reports what has been reported elsewhere: beginning in 2025, the QMJHL Entry Draft will move from 14 rounds to 12 and the US Draft will be eliminated.