Notebook: Mateiko signs ELC

Michael Hawkins/Saint John Sea Dogs

Just a few days after being reassigned to Saint John, the Washington Capitals have signed Sea Dogs forward Eriks Mateiko to a three-year, entry level contract.

According to the Capitals, "Mateiko's contract will carry an average annual value of $889,167" at the NHL level.

The Latvian was a third-round pick of the Capitals in this summer's NHL Draft. He has spent the past two seasons in Saint John and made his 2024-25 debut on Friday night in Charlottetown, recording one shot and a +1 rating. He played on Saint John's top line with Tyler Peddle and Ben Cross.

The 18-year-old also worn an 'A' on his sweater Friday and is likely a strong candidate to be the team's captain this season.

HATTIE FOR PEDDLE

Welcome back Tyler Peddle.

The 19-year-old recorded his second career QMJHL hat trick in his 2024-25 regular season debut on Friday, leading the Sea Dogs to a 6-2 win over the Charlottetown Islanders.

Peddle seems to enjoy playing against the Islanders. He recorded four goals and an assist in six meetings with Charlottetown last season.

The Columbus Blue Jackets prospect picked up where he left off. Peddle ended the 2023-24 regular season with eight goals in his final 10 games.

ROAD WOES

Friday's win in Charlottetown ended a 13-game regular season road losing streak for the Sea Dogs.

Saint John hadn't won a regular season road game since that surprising 7-4 win in Victoriaville on Jan. 27. The team has won just three regular season road games in the 2024 calendar year: Jan. 5 at Charlottetown, Jan. 27 at Victoriaville and Sept. 27 at Charlottetown.

The Sea Dogs were 9-22-2-1 on the road last season. Only Quebec and Val-d'Or had worse road records.

FRIDAY FACTS

In case you missed it, a few more notes from Friday's win.

• Rookie forwards Elliot Dubé and William Yared both scored their first QMJHL goals.

  #SJSeaDogs rookies William Yared and Elliot Dube both scored their first QMJHL goal tonight!#GoDogsGo pic.twitter.com/pH9sEzMwnA

  — Saint John Sea Dogs (@SJSeaDogs) September 28, 2024

• Yared and defenseman Cruz Scanzano both picked up their first QMJHL points. Yared had an assist before scoring his first goal.
• Defenseman Nate Tivey had a four-point night, setting a new career high for points in a game and matching his career high for assists in a game with three.
• Tivey and fellow defenseman Nicolas Bilodeau combined for a goal and five assists.
• Tivey has scored just seven goals in his entire QMJHL career and four of them have been game winners.
• The 47 shots the Islanders recorded is the second most by any team so far in this young season. Quebec had 51 in a game last weekend. This was an issue for Saint John last season as well and it's something the team will need to clean up.
• The Sea Dogs avoided starting the season 0-3, which they haven't done since 2021-22.

COMING UP

The Sea Dogs' schedule is about to ramp up.

On Sunday, the Sea Dogs travel to Sydney to take on the Cape Breton Eagles at 3 p.m. The Eagles are off to a rough start, falling to 0-3 with a home loss to the Halifax Mooseheads on Friday.

Saint John will play three games next week. On Thursday, the Sea Dogs travel to Bathurst to face Gordie Dwyer and the Titan for the first time this season. On the weekend, Saint John will host the Islanders on Saturday night and the Titan on Sunday afternoon.

OTHER THINGS

• The Sea Dogs have some sponsored content on CTV, which includes interviews with Trevor Georgie and Travis Crickard.
• Saltwire has an update on those QMJHL-to-St. John's rumours. The CEO of St. John’s Sports and Entertainment said all the right things, so we'll see where this goes.
• Tribe Live as a story on former Sea Dogs forward Boko Imama, who is now part of the Pittsburgh Penguins organization.
• Former Sea Dogs forward Julian Vander Voet has joined Josh Dixon's University of Guelph Gryphons for the 2024-25 season. Vander Voet spent parts of two seasons with the Sea Dogs.
• The Halifax Mooseheads are off to a 3-0 start while the Cape Breton Eagles are 0-3. 
• Calgary Flames prospect Matvei Gridin scored his first QMJHL goal in his first QMJHL game on Friday.

  First game. First goal.@NHLFlames 1st rounder Matvei Gridin is adjusting just fine to the @QMJHL pic.twitter.com/qDFizhi0fU

  — Canadian Hockey League (@CHLHockey) September 28, 2024

• The OHL made its return to Brampton on Friday with the Steelheads hammering the Brantford Bulldogs 7-0. Official attendance was only 2,277 to watch the No. 2 ranked team in the CHL.
• The 2026 University Cup will be hosted by the Saint Mary's Huskies in Halifax while the 2028 tournament will be hosted by the UNB Reds in Fredericton.