Wildcats land Gill, Rousseau

Embed from Getty Images

A couple blockbuster trades made by the Moncton Wildcats highlighted Monday's QMJHL trade deadline.

As expected, the Wildcats acquired overage defenseman Dyllan Gill from the Rouyn-Noranda Huskies in exchange for draft picks and prospect Niko El Khouri. Gill, a Riverview native and Tampa Bay Lightning prospect, has been playing with the AHL's Syracuse Crunch where he's posted two goals and two assists this season.

Then the Wildcats made a surprise move, trading 20-year-old goaltender Jacob Steinman, a pair of second-round picks and a fourth-rounder to the Halifax Mooseheads in exchange for overage netminder Mathis Rousseau and forward Logan Crosby.

Steinman, in his third season with the Wildcats, has been excellent, posting a 2.13 goals against average and a .928 save percentage. Most would agree, though, that Rousseau is an upgrade – the question is how much? And was this trade really necessary? 

Rousseau's numbers are average this season (by his standard, at least) given that he's on a bad Mooseheads team. But the Wildcats were no doubt attracted to his experience, playing for Team Canada at last year's IIHF World Junior Championship and carrying the Mooseheads to the league final in 2023.

With the additions of Gill and Rousseau, the Wildcats are stacked defensively and remain very well positioned to make a run at a QMJHL title.

A few other of Monday's notable deals...

• The Drummondville Voltigeurs also hope to make a run, acquiring 19-year-old forward Justin Larose from the Victoriaville Tigres in exchange for Maxime Lambert and a plethora of draft picks.
• Former Sea Dogs forward Pavel Simek, who is fresh off helping Czechia win a bronze medal at the IIHF World Junior Championship, was traded to the Charlottetown Islanders by the Rimouski Oceanic. The move had to happen for the Oceanic to make room for Saint John Sea Dogs forward Eriks Mateiko.
• The Mateiko deal was Saint John's only trade during this year's QMJHL holiday trade period.
• On Sunday, the Wildcats traded overage forward Yoan Loshing to the Shawinigan Cataractes to make room for Gill.
• The full list of trades can be found on the QMJHL website.