Sunday, June 30, 2024

Notebook: Some alumni news

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The 28-year-old spent most the season with the AHL's Belleville Senators where he recorded nine goals and 22 assists in 43 games. He also appeared in seven games with Ottawa where he posted a pair of assists.

“Matthew and our coaching staffs in both Belleville and Ottawa have mutual familiarity,” said Senators general manager Steve Staios in a news release. “He routinely brings energy, is a strong penalty killer and has demonstrated good offensive prowess in the AHL.”

According to the Sens, the contract carries a value of $775,000 in the NHL and $400,000 in the AHL.

This was Highmore's first season with the Ottawa organization. He previously spent time with the Chicago Blackhawks, Vancouver Canucks and St. Louis Blues.

MORE ALUMNI NEWS
  • Joe Veleno news:
  • Yan Kuznetsov news:
  • Former Sea Dogs goaltender Jonathan Lemieux has signed a one-year AHL contract extension with the Abbotsford Canucks. Lemieux was on an AHL deal with the club last year but was loaned to the ECHL's Kalamazoo Wings.
  • Former Sea Dogs who appear to be hitting free agency on Monday include Mike Hoffman (San Jose) and Bokondji Imama (Ottawa).
  • Postmedia caught up with former Sea Dogs defenseman Jeremie Poirier to discuss his younger brother, Justin, who was picked in the fifth round of the NHL Draft by the Carolina Hurricanes.
  • The Charlottetown Islanders website has a story on former Sea Dogs forward Oliver Cooper and what he's up to these days. Cooper will be playing with an ICEHL club in Austria next season.
  • Former Sea Dogs on ECHL season ending rosters: Nicolas Blachman (Iowa), Kelly Bent (Orlando) and Nicolas Guay (Trois-Rivieres).

DRAFT AFTERMATH
The Washington Capitals, who selected Sea Dogs forward Eriks Mateiko in the third round of the NHL Draft on Saturday, were labelled "overtime winners" by Scott Wheeler of The Athletic.

"Mateiko is an awesome kid whom I expect to be named captain of the Saint John Sea Dogs next year (very rare for an import)," writes Wheeler. "He’s one of the most improved players in this class over the last couple of years and has always played well when I’ve watched him, both in the Q and for Latvia."

Here's a video of Mateiko prior to the draft that the QMJHL released.


NEW LOCATION
Saint John's final game of the pre-season has a new location.

The Sea Dogs' road match against the Charlottetown Islanders on Sept. 14 has been moved from Pownal, PEI to Tyne Valley, PEI, a small community that's about 30 minutes west of Summerside.

It'll be the first QMJHL pre-season game to be played at the relatively new Cavendish Farms Community Events Centre, which replaced the town's previous rink that was lost in a fire a few years ago.

The Sea Dogs will still visit Pownal this year but only once: Aug. 21, which will be the second game of a home-and-home between Saint John and Charlottetown to open the pre-season.

CUP ADDITIONS
This year's Drummondville Voltigeurs have been added to the Gilles Courteau Trophy – which includes the name of former Sea Dogs forward Noah Reinhart.
2026 HOST
Only two Western Hockey League teams have publicly announced their intentions to bid on hosting the 2026 Memorial Cup: Kelowna and Brandon.

Brandon last hosted in 2010 while Kelowna was scheduled to host the 2020 tournament that was cancelled by the pandemic. The Rockets had previously hosted in 2004.

According to The Brandon Sun, "the other WHL cities expected to bid for the Canadian Hockey League championship are Portland, Ore., Spokane, Wash., Kelowna, B.C., Lethbridge, Alta., and Medicine Hat, Alta."

OTHER THINGS
  • The CHL Import Draft takes place this Wednesday. The off-season truly begins once that is complete.
  • Sea Dogs forward Egan Beveridge has scored a few teams while playing for Team New England at this event.
  • Five players from the USHL's Muskegon Lumberjacks were picked in this weekend's NHL Draft, including two in the first round. Two of the five players picked were from QMJHL territory (Quebec's Sacha Boisvert and Xavier Veilleux) This is the team Tynan Lawrence, the younger brother of former Sea Dogs forward Josh Lawrence, has committed to play. Lawrence was a first-round pick of the Chicoutimi Sagueneens in this year's QMJHL Entry Draft.
  • JJ Monteiro, a 12th-round pick of Saint John in the 2022 QMJHL Entry Draft, did not get selected in the NHL Draft. The 18-year-old forward was ranked 197th by NHL Central Scouting amongst North American forwards entering the draft.
  • A fairly significant shakeup in the QMJHL head office: Pierre Leduc, who has been the league's director of hockey operations since 2007, has been named the president of the Blainville-Boisbriand Armada.
  • This is pretty crazy...
  • ... and so is this.
  • The University of Maine schedule for 2024-25 has been released. Boston University visits Orono Nov. 15-16 while the defending national champion University of Denver comes to town Jan. 3-4.
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