Joseph impresses on final day of development camp

QUISPAMSIS - On the final day of Saint John Sea Dogs summer development camp, Alexis Joseph showed everyone why he was picked first overall in the QMJHL Entry Draft.

Joseph scored six times – with one coming in a shootout and another two being empty netters – to help Team Smallman defeat Team Thomas on Sunday morning at the qplex.

Playing three 10-minute games of four-on-four hockey, Joseph scored on his first shift, carrying the puck in from the blue line and cutting into the top of the crease. It's evident his size and strength are a step above where most players are when they enter the league at 16.

Cole Renaud scored for Team Thomas to send the first 10-minute game into a shootout. Joseph scored a beautiful shootout goal but Team Thomas took the win thanks to Renaud and Olivier Groulx converting on their attempts.

Notebook: It's development camp weekend

Vincent Ethier/QMJHL

It's development camp weekend for the Saint John Sea Dogs.

The camp kicks off this Friday at the qplex in Quispamsis and will conclude Sunday morning. According to the team, "on-ice activities get underway at 6:30 p.m. on July 4, followed by more on-ice sessions throughout the rest of the weekend. Players will also undergo fitness testing and take part in various off-ice sessions focused on nutrition and sports psychology."

Development Camp is BACK 🏒#SJSeaDogs prospects and players will hit the ice for three days of on-ice and off-ice development sessions from July 4-6 at the @Quispamsisqplex.

Roster and schedule are subject to change.#GoDogsGo pic.twitter.com/URl0YuyIOv

— Saint John Sea Dogs (@SJSeaDogs) June 27, 2025

33 players were invited to the camp, including Alexis Joseph, who was drafted by the Sea Dogs with the first overall pick in this year's QMJHL Entry Draft. Joseph recently said in an interview this will be his first time visiting Saint John.

A breakdown of the roster can be found here.

Development camp is open to the public.

IMPORT DRAFT AFTERMATH

A bit more on Olivers Murnieks, the Latvian forward who the Sea Dogs selected with the sixth overall pick in Wednesday's CHL Import Draft.

He's very much a legit prospect for the 2026 NHL Draft.

The Latvia to Saint John pipeline continues. Big get for the Sea Dogs. Murnieks should have an immediate impact. Potential first rounder for 2026. https://t.co/SZDiFjNbzG

— Scott Wheeler (@scottcwheeler) July 2, 2025

Murnieks was ranked 26th for next year's draft by Daily Faceoff.

Here's some more video.

Murnieks was named to the all-USHL rookie second team this past season. From the USHL:

Finishing sixth in rookie scoring, the Riga, Latvia native had 15 goals and 20 assists in 52 games for the Musketeers. Murnieks had five multi-point games and scored a pair of shorthanded goals, tied for first among league rookies. He totaled only eight penalty minutes with a +2 rating. Internationally, Murnieks represented his home country at the World Junior Championship.

Murnieks was one of seven Latvians picked in this year's import draft, a record number (most countries saw record numbers due to the draft being expanded to three rounds).

Development camp is back

The Saint John Sea Dogs are bringing summer development camp back.

The team announced Friday its roster and schedule for the camp, which will run July 4-6 at the qplex in Quispamsis. The list of invites includes 16 forwards, 13 defensemen, and four goaltenders.

Here's a look at the roster.

Forwards (16)

Egan Beveridge (returnee)

Madison Bouchard (2025 draft pick)

Dylan-Alec Chery (2024 draft pick)

Alex Donovan* (signing)

Elliot Dubé (returnee)

Olivier Groulx (returnee)

Nolann Heroux (2025 draft pick)

Alexis Joseph (2025 draft pick)

Dylan Krayer (returnee)

Matthew Krayer (returnee)

Zachary Morin* (returnee)

Cole Renaud (2025 draft pick)

Dylan Rozzi* (retunee)

Finnegan Sears* (2025 draft pick)

Elliot Tozer (2025 draft pick)

William Yared* (returnee)

Defensemen (13)

Benjamin Amyot (returnee)

Everett Baldwin* (2025 draft pick)

Julien Bonnet* (returnee)

Frederick Bourque (2024 draft pick)

Cameron Chartrand (2024 draft pick)

Oskar Drabczynski* (2025 draft pick)

Olivier Duhamel (returnee)

Jesse Dunlap (2025 draft pick)

Joshua Henry (2024 draft pick)

Matas Janulis (2024 draft pick)

Julien Lacroix (2025 draft pick)

John Lumsden (returnee)

Brian MacFadden (2024 draft pick)

Goaltenders (4)

Rafael Courchesne (2024 draft pick)

Samuel Doyon-Cataquiz* (2023 draft pick)

Jase MacPherson (2025 draft pick)

Sam Pitcher (2025 draft pick)

Players listed with a * were "invited but not available due to other commitments." That list includes nine players: Alex Donovan, Zachary Morin, Dylan Rozzi, Finnegan Sears, William Yared, Everett Baldwin, Julien Bonnet, Oskar Drabczynski and Samuel Doyon-Cataquiz.

Notebook: Burbidge gets Sens camp invite

Michael Hawkins/Saint John Sea Dogs

Saint John Sea Dogs forward Cole Burbidge has received an invite to Ottawa Senators development camp.

The 17-year-old was not selected during this week's NHL Draft. He was ranked 110th amongst North American skaters in NHL Central Scouting's final rankings, making him a candidate for a late round pick.

Off to the Nation's Capital 🔜

Sea Dogs forward Cole Burbidge has been invited to the Ottawa Senators Development Camp!#CityOfChampions | @Senators pic.twitter.com/pEXZBnmjSq

— Saint John Sea Dogs (@SJSeaDogs) June 30, 2023

Burbidge was not ranked at all in the mid-season rankings, proving just how much his play improved as his first season in the QMJHL progressed. The Falmouth, NS native finished the regular season with 19 goals and 50 points in 68 games.

Ottawa's development camp begins Sunday and ends on Thursday, July 6. 36 players will be attending.

HALL OF FAME RECAP

A quick video recap of last Friday's Sea Dogs Hall of Fame induction ceremony for Gerard Gallant and Mike Kelly.

Notebook: Development camp underway

QUISPAMSIS, NB - The Saint John Sea Dogs got the on-ice portion of their 2023 summer development camp underway on Saturday at the qplex.

Goaltenders, defensemen and forwards took to the ice in separate sessions in the morning. Later in the day, the three groups combined to take part in a couple hours of practices.

The sessions allowed Sea Dogs management and fans to see some of the team's top prospects on the ice together for the first time, including 2023 second-round picks Egan Beveridge, Olivier Duhamel and Benjamin Amyot. The full roster of invitees can be found here.

Sea Dogs 2nd round American draft selection Daniel Daley, from Franklin HS is also in attendance and is looking equally as impressive.

Love this drill, by the way. pic.twitter.com/DSxSI1amxb

— Brayden Olafson (@olaf1393) June 24, 2023

The group attended the Sea Dogs Hall of Fame ceremony on Friday night. Development camp continues on Sunday with a 9 a.m. practice and a 10:30 a.m. 3-on-3 series at the qplex.

This is the first time the Sea Dogs have held a development camp since 2019 due to the pandemic.

COYLE SPEAKS

One video that didn't make it into Friday night's Sea Dogs Hall of Fame induction ceremony for Gerard Gallant and Mike Kelly was this message from Charlie Coyle.

Messages from Sea Dogs alumni are starting to come in ahead of tonight's Sea Dogs Hall of Fame induction ceremony!@NHLBruins | @CharlieCoyle_3 pic.twitter.com/oQ7en6hiCs

— Saint John Sea Dogs (@SJSeaDogs) June 23, 2023

Coyle, now a member of the Boston Bruins, joined the Sea Dogs for the second half of the 2011-12 season and was named the QMJHL's playoff MVP.

Development camp making a return

The Saint John Sea Dogs will be hosting a development camp this weekend at the Quispamsis qplex.

The camp roster, which the Sea Dogs released on Thursday afternoon, includes all three of the team's second-round picks in this year's QMJHL Entry Draft: forward Egan Beveridge and defensemen Olivier Duhamel and Benjamin Amyot.

Along with Beveridge, Saint John's other two 2023 American selections, defenseman Jeremy Poirier and forward Daniel Daley, are among the invites as well.

Here's a look at the full roster:

Forwards

Alexis Beaudoin (2023 - 7th round)

Benjamin Beaudry (2022 - 9th round)

Campbell MacIntyre (2022 - 14th round)

Egan Beveridge (2023 - 2nd round)

Daniel Daley (2023 - US 2nd round)

Jacob Beaulieu (2022 - 7th round)

Reid Calder (2022 - 7th round)

Defensemen

Arnaud Tardif (2023 - 11th round)

Benjamin Amyot (2023 - 2nd round)

Elie Warren (trade)

Giuliano Caputo (2023 - 13th round)

Jeremy Poirier (2023 - US 1st round)

Jeremie Richard (2022 - 3rd round)

Matthew MacLean (2023 - 11th round)

Olivier Duhamel (2023 - 2nd round)

Tomas Lulic (2023 - 13th round)

Goaltenders

Charles-Antoine Girard (2022 - 10th round)

Kyan Labbe (2023 - 4th round)

Forward Jacob Beaulieu and defenseman Jeremie Richard spent the 2022-23 season with the Sea Dogs. Reid Calder, meanwhile, appeared in nine games.

2023 draft picks not included on the roster are defenseman Julien Bonnet, who was ranked 43rd by Central Scouting but slid to the seventh round, and goaltender Samuel Doyon-Cataquiz, who presumably has college hockey intentions.

Notebook: Leland joins Titan staff

The Acadie-Bathurst Titan will have a familiar face behind the bench this season.

This past week, the Titan named Greg Leland an assistant coach. Leland, from Quispamsis, was an assistant coach with the Saint John Sea Dogs for eight seasons, which included helping the club win two President Cup championships and the 2011 Memorial Cup title.

Leland has been the head coach and general manager of the MHL's Campbellton Tigers since 2016-17, where he notably coached Dawson Stairs during the 2018-19 season.

“It was not an easy decision to leave the Tigers," Leland said in a Titan news release. "I enjoyed my years there, but I’m now ready to return to the QMJHL to work with some talented young players.”

The Titan won just 12 games last season after only winning eight the year before. The club has had to rebuild completely from its 2018 Memorial Cup championship run, but seems poised to take a bigger step forward this upcoming season.

NHL DRAFT DATE SET
As we continue to move further into the unknown, it's nice to see some future dates be set - even if they are tentative.

The NHL announced Friday the tentative dates for 2020 NHL Draft - originally planned for late June in Montreal - are Oct. 9-10. If the CHL season is able to start Oct. 1-2 (which seems unlikely at this point), that would have the NHL Draft taking place the second weekend of the regular season.

All the key dates from Training Camp to the 2020 NHL Draft. https://t.co/IErZJ2hifT pic.twitter.com/gRlxklXNml

— NHL Public Relations (@PR_NHL) July 10, 2020

It would certainly be weird to see Jeremie Poirier or William Villeneuve get drafting while playing in a game for the Sea Dogs. But... this is a scenario that we (sadly?) probably won't have to worry about.

Observations from development camp

By Lorne Webster | SN Staff

QUISPAMSIS - The Saint John Sea Dogs did something a bit different this year, holding a development camp for their new draftees and prospects.

All of the Sea Dogs' 2018 draft choices were present with the exception of two of the six players invited to Team Canada's under-17 camp – Mathias Savoie (fourth round, 62nd overall) and Dawson Stairs (seventh round, 109th overall) as well as second round US draftee – Cade DeStefani. Saint John Vito’s standout defenceman Kale McCullum was originally listed but did not scrimmage Saturday afternoon at the qplex.

The group was supplemented by second year players Nathan Larose, Luke Wilson, Aiden MacIntosh and Jeremie Jacob along with goaltenders Tommy DaSilva and Stewart Bagnell.

While it is early and caution from one practice is required - it was readily apparent that the team’s excitement and the draft pundits’ accolades are warranted. This draft class could be as good as – possibly even better than - that of 2013, when the Sea Dogs drafted the likes of Nathan Noel, Thomas Chabot, Mathieu Joseph and Samuel Dove-McFalls.

Day 2 at Sea Dogs Dev camp. #HungryDogs pic.twitter.com/31PDKMqH9s

— Anthony Stella (@AnthonyStella_) June 16, 2018

Here are some takeaways from Saturday's on-ice action in Quispamsis:

Jeremie Poirier – who draws comparisons to Chabot or Nathan Beaulieu - is a dynamic skater and puck handler who is prepared to push the pace at all times.

William Villeneuve – who draws comparisons to Noah Dobson – is an extremely strong skater who oozes poise and skill.

Charlie DesRoches - another defenceman with lots of skill and poise. He is likely to remind a number of Sea Dogs faithful of Pierre Durepos.

Nathan Larose - looked to be bigger and stronger. The returnee made a couple of spectacular end-to-end rushes with ‘bar down’ finishes. Following a strong second half of last season, Larose appears ready to take his game to another level next year.