Mateiko remains a Sea Dog for now

Michael Hawkins/Saint John Sea Dogs

MONCTON – The Quebec Maritimes Junior Hockey League Entry Draft is over and Eriks Mateiko remains a Saint John Sea Dog.

Mateiko, who is coming off his second season with the Sea Dogs and will likely get selected in the NHL Draft later this month, is considered to be one of the top imports in the QMJHL next year. Given where Saint John is at in their rebuild, trading him to a contender is a logical move.

A deal hasn't happened, but one could certainly be coming soon, said Sea Dogs general manager Anthony Stella following Saturday's QMJHL Entry Draft at the Avenir Centre.

"We could have moved now or we could have moved at Christmas," Stella said of dealing the Latvian forward. "If Moncton wanted to make a splash they would have done the deal last night – they didn't. If they wanted to make a splash today they could have done it today and they didn't. There was a handful of other teams that asked about him. I think, leading into it, it's not over yet. There could still be deals for Eriks in the coming days – not necessarily with the draft. So we'll see how that unfolds but that is still an active file."

Moncton GM Taylor MacDougall says he can't comment on a player on another organization and "Anthony has my number."

— Kevin Barrett (@KevinBarrettNB) June 8, 2024

The Sea Dogs made just one trade this past week, dealing a 2025 first-round pick (which originally belonged to Moncton) to the Rimouski Oceanic in exchange for the 19th overall selection in Friday night's first round. Saint John used the pick on defenseman Cameron Chartrand who spent last season playing US prep school hockey with the Bishop Kearney Selects.

Playing US prep school hockey is typically a sign of a player intending to play college hockey – or at least keep that pathway open. Saint John drafted three Canadians who currently play in the United States and another four American players.

Stella said the team is hopeful that expected changes to the NCAA/CHL arrangement – which would allow CHL players to play NCAA hockey – will entice players to join the Sea Dogs.

"I think we're under the impression that the NCAA/CHL rule will most likely change," Stella said. "One of our goals was to make sure our list was as prepared as possible. We would have loved to have done more but with the picks we had we think we positioned ourselves in a good place."

It's unclear when the NCAA will make the rule change as it doesn't appear to be something the majority of college hockey coaches are pushing for. The change may not occur until the NCAA is challenged in court.

"Personally, as I have believed for months, it’s a matter of when that happens and not if it happens," writes Mike McMahon of College Hockey News about the rule change. "At some point a lawyer is going to convince someone to sue the NCAA about that rule. It’s easy money. 

"Under a new NCAA model where players will be outright paid by their universities, every sports attorney I’ve spoken to about the subject believes the NCAA rule regarding CHL players will never hold up in court."

Another factor that could benefit the Sea Dogs when it comes to recruiting top American players is the fact that they already have one: forward Egan Beveridge, who was Saint John's top pick in last year's draft. The Dogs drafted another player from New Hampshire this weekend: highly touted forward Jamie Glance who is committed to the US National Team Development Program for next season.

"When you're a player like Egan a lot of them know who Egan is," said Stella. "Having him on our team, such a high profile player, a lot of players are now kind of looking towards us. Today's just another step in building off the momentum."

A few other post-draft notes from Stella...

• Stella said the ideal scenario for the team would be to have four players from this draft class in their lineup next season – but that will depend on how many players report to Saint John come August. "But the plan would be a minimum of threes 16s," the GM added.
• One of the themes of Saint John's draft was size, with only three players the team drafted listed under 6'0". Stella noted that was less of a plan and more of a coincidence.
• Another instance that was more coincidence than plan: Saint John selecting three players from the Lac St-Louis Lions program. "We just seemed to like them and they fit boxes for us," said Stella. In total, eight players from the Lions were picked in the draft.
• On the team opting to take forward Zachary Morin of the USHL's Youngstown Phantoms in the eighth-round: "We've been taking swings all night, let's continue the theme and why not? We just grabbed him," Stella said. "If he'd report he'd be the best eighth-round pick in the history of the league." Morin was a first-round pick of the Blainville-Boisbriand Armada in last year's QMJHL Entry Draft but did not report.
• Selecting a player like Morin also had to do with the team filling up its protected list. Stella said, prior to the draft, the club had just 34 players on its 60 player list. "Now when we look overall at our protected list we have some pretty good names."
• There will be no Sea Dogs Hall of Fame event this summer and, because of that, the team will not be holding a summer development camp.