Opening night roster unveiled

Michael Hawkins/Saint John Sea Dogs

The Saint John Sea Dogs unveiled their opening night roster on Wednesday.

The Sea Dogs will start the 2026-27 Quebec Maritimes Junior Hockey League season with a roster of 24 players: two goaltenders, nine defensemen and 13 forwards.

The final roster comes with no surprises. As mentioned, the team is expected to open the season at nearly full strength. Defenseman Olivier Duhamel is expected to remain on the injured list for a couple months, which is likely the reason for the team opting to keep nine defenders for the time being.

Introducing your 2026-27 #SJSeaDogs opening night roster 🐶🌊

🗞️ » https://t.co/UYfXKhdMFA
🎟️ » https://t.co/HddIyY3yaQ#GoDogsGo pic.twitter.com/DbXjNoMxW8

— Saint John Sea Dogs (@SJSeaDogs) September 16, 2026

Only 12 of these 24 players ended last season with the Sea Dogs. The team had a busy summer bolstering its lineup – and it feels like more changes could come over the next few months.

The Sea Dogs will start the season with just two overagers (forward Olivier Lemieux and defenseman Julien Lanthier) and two imports (forwards Matyas Cancik and Oliver Ozogany), leaving the team with some roster flexibility.

Along with Cancik and Ozogany, the Sea Dogs also selected defenseman Vertti Svensk in this summer's CHL Import Draft but he remains in Finland playing pro hockey. Defenseman Lawrence Williams is the lone member of Saint John's 2026 QMJHL Entry Draft class to start the season with the club.

Cancik, Ozogany and Williams join highly touted American forward Jamie Glance as the lone players on Saint John's roster without any QMJHL experience.

The Sea Dogs open the regular season on Friday night when they visit the Newfoundland Regiment in the first of back-to-back games.