18 Thoughts: Checking in on our friends from Windsor

We know the Saint John Sea Dogs are off to a rough start, but how about those other teams that played this past May in Windsor?

The Sea Dogs were joined by the host Windsor Spitfires, OHL champion Erie Otters and WHL champion Seattle Thunderbirds at last season's Memorial Cup. All three, along with the Sea Dogs, were expected to take steps back this year - and they have, but none as large as Saint John (yet, at least).

The Spitfires have gotten off to a decent start and sit fourth in the OHL's Western Conference with an 11-6-1-0 record.

After four straight 100 points seasons, the Otters are finally taking a step back. They are currently 8-7-2-1, which is a respectable start.

Out west, the Thunderbirds are fourth in the Western Conference with a 9-5-1-1 record.

Saint John is by far off to the roughest start of last year's Memorial Cup teams, sporting a record of 4-11-4-1. They could eventually catch up, depending on how the rest of their seasons go.

It's always interesting to follow other Memorial Cup participants to compare rebuilds/retools. As we know, the Sea Dogs and Shawinigan Cataractes, who met in the 2012 tournament, seem forever stuck in the same cycle.

To the notes...

18 Thoughts: Bill Stewart?

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SAINT JOHN - It's been just over four years (Oct. 29) since the Saint John Sea Dogs fired head coach and general manager Mike Kelly.

Kelly and the Sea Dogs got off to a 5-10-0-2 start that year, which was good for 12 points. Fast forward four years and the Sea Dogs are off to a 4-9-3-1 start, good for 12 points.

Josh Dixon's job is very likely safe. Whether people like it or not, it's still early, and firing a guy that was hired two months ago would be an overreaction. But you have to wonder if the team is interested in getting him some additional support.

The Sea Dogs have just one assistant coach currently - Jeff Cowan, who's an associate coach. While having one assistant behind the bench has seemingly become a popular trend in junior of late, Saint John has always gone with two assistants.

On Saturday, Rogers TV's Aaron Kennedy got the rumours started on air, saying that Bill Stewart is interested in joining the team's coaching staff. It's unclear if the team is interested in having him join, though.

The @SJSeaDogs have a vacancy on their bench. They have a young, inexperienced head coach who needs to be mentored....

— Aaron Kennedy (@scoop88) October 28, 2017

There's a well known coach with ties to Saint John who could be the perfect fit. He has #nhl experience, international experience and #CHL

— Aaron Kennedy (@scoop88) October 28, 2017

He guided the Saint John Flames to a berth in 1998 Calder Cup Final. @SJSeaDogs know he's interested & available. He's Bill Stewart.

— Aaron Kennedy (@scoop88) October 28, 2017

Stewart has an impressive coaching resume, as his Elite Prospects page will tell you. He had been coaching in Germany until a few weeks ago.

18 Thoughts: Drake Batherson off to quite a start

A couple months into the season, Drake Batherson has been the QMJHL's best story.

Batherson scored a hat trick on Sunday afternoon in Saint John - which included the game-winner in overtime - to give him an incredible 15 goals in 13 games this season. This comes after he scored 22 goals all of last season (in 61 games).

A fourth-round pick of the Ottawa Senators last year, Batherson is leading the league in goals and points (24). It's highly unlikely he maintains his 1.15 goals per game average, but Batherson could have quite an impressive stat line come March.

As HockeyProspect.com writes, "Batherson is the classic late-bloomer type of player who was undersized but had a late growth spurt. He’s showing early on this season that he’s going to have a dominant year in the QMJHL."

The top five scorers in the league at the moment all play in the Maritimes Division: Batherson (Cape Breton), Mika Cyr (Moncton), Filip Zadina (Halifax), Maxime Fortier (Halifax) and Jeremy McKenna (Moncton).

As Willy Palov notes, the top three rookie scorers - Zadina, Jakob Pelletier (Moncton) and Ostap Safin (Saint John) - also all play in the Maritimes.

Some other notes from around the circuit...

1. While Batherson has put Cape Breton's offence in the spotlight early this year, their defence and goaltending has to be a concern. The team has allowed a league high 56 goals and have had a wild few weeks. In their past four games, Cape Breton has allowed nine, three, seven and five goals against, respectively. Eagles games have been entertaining, at least.

2. The Screaming Eagles opened the scoring on Sunday against the Sea Dogs. Anyone who has watched the Dogs this season knows they've had issues getting off to quality starts - and the numbers reflect that. Saint John has scored first in just three of their 14 games, which is tied for the league low.

18 Thoughts: Sea Dogs' offence has brought a mixed bag of results

SAINT JOHN - While the Saint John Sea Dogs have struggled to score this season, they have had some players meet and exceed expectations offensively.

Daniel Hardie, who scored 18 goals and 38 points in 45 games with a below .500 Rimouski Oceanic team last year, leads Saint John in scoring with five goals and 14 points in 11 games.

Import forward Ostap Safin has been living up to the hype, registering three goals and eight assists. Import defenceman Radim Salda has exceeded all expectations and has three goals and six assists. After some rough years and bad luck in the Import Draft, it's nice to see a couple guys come to Saint John and make an immediate impact.

Safin is fourth overall in QMJHL rookie scoring while Salda leads all rookie defencemen in points.

Captain Joe Veleno has found the back of the net just once this year, but has - somewhat quietly - recorded eight assists in 11 games. Not bad for a team that's averaging 2.16 goals per game (only Charlottetown is averaging fewer).

The big question: can these four keep this going all season? If not, who is going to step up?

As expected, Saint John's secondary scoring has been lacking - especially during this four game losing streak. After Veleno, Saint John's next leading scorer in Cedric Pare with four points.

Pare had a big game in Moncton on Sunday, which is hopefully a sign of things to come. Other guys have produced at times, but not consistently. But this was an expected problem heading into the season, and it's an issue that has no easy fix.

It's still early, though. There's plenty of time for the Sea Dogs to get their offence running smoother. We'll see.

Some other random thoughts...