Friday, June 6, 2025

Sea Dogs select Joseph first overall

QUEBEC CITY
- The Saint John Sea Dogs selected forward Alexis Joseph with the first overall pick in the 2025 QMJHL Entry Draft.

The Sea Dogs made the selection Friday evening at Quebec City's Videotron Centre. Saint John earned the right to select first overall after winning the league's draft lottery a few weeks ago.

Joseph is the seventh player in Sea Dogs franchise history to be selected first overall. He follows Joshua Roy (2019), Joe Veleno (2015), Luke Green (2014), Simon Despres (2007), Yann Sauve (2006) and Alex Grant (2005).
QMJHL Central Scouting ranked Joseph as the No. 1 player available for this year's draft in their final rankings. A number of other draft experts also predicted the forward to be taken with the top pick.

Joseph's most noticeable attribute is his size. At 15-years-old he's listed at 6'4" and 192 lbs, certainly making him physically ready for major junior hockey.

There has been hype around Joseph for a number of years, including some talk of him applying for exceptional player status a year ago. He posted 25 goals and 28 assists in 39 games with the Phénix du Collège Esther-Blondin in the Quebec AAA circuit during the 2023-24 season. 

This past season, Joseph didn't progress his offensive numbers as many expected, which created talk of him being passed by forward James Scantlebury or defenseman Malik L'Italien as the projected first overall pick. But Joseph proved in the end that the offensive output is there.


"What really changed my opinion on Joseph was his play late in the season at showcases where he was pitted against players his own age," writes Austin Robson of Puck Preps. "I thought he was fantastic at the QMJHL Cup in April and showed me a side of his game (physicality and defensive engagement) that I hadn’t seen for large stretches throughout the year. He was equally fantastic at the Cross Border Challenge in May, solidifying his spot at the top of my board."

Jospeh ended the 2024-25 season with 23 goals and 33 assists in 42 regular season games.

For more on Saint John's 2025 draft class, check out this post featuring live updates.

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