Zubek signs; two more added to pre-season roster

The Saint John Sea Dogs have officially signed defenseman Patryk Zubek.

Zubek, who was Saint John's second-round pick in this year's CHL Import Draft, was signed to a QMJHL scholarship and development agreement, the team announced Friday.

"As we continue to remodel our backend, Patryk is a big defender who we felt could bring consistent two-way play on our left side," said Sea Dogs head coach and general manager Travis Crickard in a release. "We know he’s excited to get started in Saint John, and we feel the same way. We’re looking forward to getting him immersed in our great community and having him play an important role on our team."

Listed at 6'3" and 207 lbs, Zubek posted eight goals and 12 assists in 31 games with Team Slovakia U18 this past season. He also played with Slovakia at the IIHF U18 World Championship where he appeared in seven games.

A citizen of both Slovakia and Poland, Zubek also recorded a goal and six assists in seven games with Barani Banská Bystrica U20 squad.

Zubek was one of three players the Sea Dogs selected in this year's Import Draft. In the first-round, the team picked Latvian forward Olivers Murnieks while in the third-round they drafted Swedish defenseman Max Vilén.

CHL teams are permitted to carry three overage players on their roster this season, up from the previous limit of two.

Saint John's online pre-season roster got a couple more additions on Friday with the most notable being 20-year-old goaltender Rhett Stoesser, who recently cleared waivers in the WHL.

The Cremona, Alberta native split last season between the Red Deer Rebels and Kelowna Rockets. In 26 games with the Rockets, Stoesser went 5-19 with a 4.72 goals against average and a .876 save percentage. It's worth noting that the Rockets finished with the third worst record in the WHL last season.

Stoesser has spent the past three seasons in the WHL, appearing in 91 games.

19-year-old defenseman Kabir Shahi, meanwhile, has also been added to Saint John's pre-season roster. The Vancouver native has spent the past two seasons overseas, playing the 2023-24 campaign in Germany and last season in Sweden. Listed at 6'4" and 190 lbs, Shahi was a seventh-round pick of the Calgary Hitmen in the 2021 WHL Prospects Draft.