Sea Dogs sign overager Leaver

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The Saint John Sea Dogs have a new goaltender.

As expected, the Sea Dogs announced the signing of overage netminder Patrick Leaver on Tuesday, who joins the club after playing the past two seasons in the Ontario Hockey League with the Oshawa Generals and Guelph Storm.

“We’re very happy to add Patrick to our team,” said Sea Dogs general manager Anthony Stella in a news release. “With his CHL and playoff experience, we feel he’s the right person to help mentor our younger goaltenders and take on a leadership role.”

In 97 career OHL games, Leaver posted a 46-37-6 record to go along with a 3.43 goals against average and a .897 save percentage. He's also appeared in 11 playoff games.

The Perth, ON native split last season between Oshawa and Guelph.

Leaver will join forward Peter Reynolds and defenseman Mathis Gauthier as the team's trio of overage players.

It's unclear who will join Leaver in the Sea Dogs crease. Saint John had three goaltenders still in camp last week: returnee Olivier Brideau (who has since been traded to Rimouski), prospect Justin Robinson and Ontario free agent Sebastian Monaco.

Leaver joins a long list of veteran goaltenders the Sea Dogs have traded for or signed since the team won the QMJHL championship in 2017. It'll be interesting to see how Saint John handles its goaltending situation moving forward with a new general manager (Anthony Stella) and goaltending coach (Max Essiambre).

Sea Dogs have been busy

Michael Hawkins/Saint John Sea Dogs

It's been a busy few weeks of trades for the Saint John Sea Dogs.

The Sea Dogs made a few transactions prior to Sunday's trade deadline, complementing the blockbuster Cole Burbidge deal made on Aug. 1.

Here's a quick recap of the deals the Sea Dogs have made of late.

• Saint John acquires a 2025 seventh-round pick (Saint John) from Moncton in exchange for a 2025 10th-round pick, completing the Nathan Casey trade that was made last season.
• Saint John trades goaltender Olivier Brideau to the Rimouski Oceanic in exchange for a 2025 sixth-round pick and a 2025 10th-round pick (Saint John).
• Saint John acquires defenseman Matteo Mann from the Chicoutimi Sagueneens in exchange for a 2024 second-round pick (Chicoutimi) and a 2026 third-round pick.
• Saint John trades a 2026 fourth-round pick to Rimouski in exchange for a 2025 fifth-round pick (Saint John), completing the Mathis Gauthier deal made at the draft.
• Saint John trades forward Cole Burbidge to the Cape Breton Eagles in exchange for a 2024 first-round pick (Blainville-Boisbriand), 2024 second-round pick (Chicoutimi) and a 2025 first-round pick.

The Sea Dogs will have a much different look this season. The team will have two new netminders; Cole Burbidge and Brady Burns are gone up front; and the backend will be much bigger with the additions of Matteo Mann and Mathis Gauthier.

Saint John will be adding an overage netminder from the Ontario Hockey League in the coming days and with that have released Grand Bay-Westfield defenseman Jared Cosman. Cosman looked good in camp but the Sea Dogs need to get their younger defensemen playing time.

Saint John's overagers will be this new Ontario goaltender, Gauthier and returning forward Peter Reynolds. The team's import slots will once again be taken up by forwards Eriks Mateiko and Pavel Simek.

Many teams around the league have already announced their final rosters for the upcoming season. Saint John has yet to do so.

Sea Dogs trade Brideau to Oceanic

Michael Hawkins/Saint John Sea Dogs

The Saint John Sea Dogs will have two new goaltenders this season.

The Sea Dogs traded 18-year-old goaltender Olivier Brideau to the Rimouski Oceanic on Sunday in exchange for sixth- and 10th-round picks in the 2025 QMJHL Entry Draft. Brideau was a second-round pick of Saint John in the 2021 QMJHL Entry Draft.

The Gatineau native appeared in 16 regular season games with the Sea Dogs last season, posting a 2-9-0 record to go along with a 4.88 goals against average and a .870 save percentage. He also made two appearances in the playoffs.

Brideau and Ventsislav Shingarov made up Saint John's goaltending duo last season. Shingarov, who is an overager this season, was not brought back by the team.

Brideau struggled early on last season but got better as the year went on. He struggled some at training camp this year but, like last season, seemed to get better the more he played. In Friday's pre-season game against the Acadie-Bathurst Titan, Brideau made 21 saves in just over 30 minutes of action.

Only three goaltenders remained at training camp as of Friday: Brideau, 17-year-old Justin Robinson (2022 draft pick) and 18-year-old Sebastian Monaco (free agent). Girard and Monaco have no experience at the major junior level.

The Sea Dogs are expected to announce the addition of a 20-year-old goaltender from the Ontario Hockey League in the coming days, which will impact both the goaltending and overage situations. Forward Peter Reynolds and defensemen Mathis Gauthier and Jared Cosman were the only remaining overagers at camp.

To make room for incoming 20 year old goalie, the Sea Dogs released D Jared Cosman, who leaves the team after one season playing close to his home on Grand Bay Westfield.

— Kevin Barrett (@KevinBarrettNB) August 27, 2023

Saint John's next pre-season game isn't until Sept. 8. The team should have its final roster nearly in place by then.

Takeaways from the pre-season (so far)

Michael Hawkins/Saint John Sea Dogs

SAINT JOHN - It's early in the season (like, really early), but the Saint John Sea Dogs have given fans some reasons for optimism.

The Sea Dogs wrapped up the first portion of the pre-season with a 6-4 victory over the Acadie-Bathurst Titan on Friday, giving the squad a 2-1-0-0 record. They don't return to action until Sept. 8.

Here are a few takeaways.

• Scoring hasn't been an issue so far with the team piling up 14 goals in three games. It's tough to get a good rid on the offense given the opposition hasn't been dressing their best lineup. There is room for cautious optimism though — but the team still lacks scoring depth in their top six.
• Saint John's power play is running at 35.3% (6/17).
• Chad Bellemare has been impressive so far, scoring five goals — a few of which were scored by turning on the jets. Top prospect Egan Beveridge has three goals as does free agent invite Kency Pierre-Noel.
• Returnee Luka Benoit leads the team in shots on goals with 13 in three games. Bellemare has 12.
• There's no doubt Beveridge is going to annoy a lot of opposing players (and fans) with his style of play.
• Defenseman Tristan Dassylva has a team high five assists, which is the second most recorded in the league by any player so far this pre-season.
• Defenseman Mathis Gauthier is going to be fun to watch. He had a couple big open ice hits in Friday's pre-season. The additions of Gauthier and Matteo Mann add a lot of size and experience to the backend.
• Speaking of defensemen, the Sea Dogs have some decisions to make. As of Friday, the Sea Dogs still had 11 d-men in camp: Mann (acquisition), Gauthier (acquisition), Dassylva (acquisition), Benjamin Amyot (2023 draft pick), Nicolas Bilodeau (returnee), Jared Cosman (returnee), Olivier Duhamel (2023 draft pick), Joseph Ianniello (returnee), Matthew MacLean (2023 draft pick), Jeremie Richard (returnee) and Nate Tivey (returnee).
• The defense core seems to be in an unexpectedly good place for this stage of the rebuild — to the point where you have to think the Dogs may want to move some older players to transition in some younger ones. Amyot and MacLean, in particular, have been very good in the pre-season.
• Even after a week of training camp, there are still questions surrounding Saint John's goaltending situation. Olivier Brideau did look more comfortable in net on Friday, allowing just one goal on 22 shots in the first half of the game.

The Sea Dogs should have a close-to-final roster in place when they return to pre-season play on Sept. 8.

Recap: Sea Dogs win 5-2

FINAL: Bathurst 2, Saint John 5

Michael Hawkins/Saint John Sea Dogs

SAINT JOHN - The Saint John Sea Dogs are entering the pre-season break with a victory.

The Sea Dogs edged the Acadie-Bathurst Titan 5-2 on Friday night at TD Station, improving their pre-season record to 2-1. Saint John doesn't play again until Sept. 8.

Egan Beveridge and Chad Bellemare each scored twice for Saint John while Danny Akkouche added a single. Olivier Brideau allowed a goal on 22 shots in the first half of the game. Sebastian Monaco allowed a goal on 13 shots in the second half.

The Sea Dogs' power play once again had an eventful night, going 2/8.

Saint John controlled much of the play in the first period with shots ending 17-11 in favour of the Sea Dogs. Saint John had three power plays in the period — including a lengthy five-on-three — but could not score.

Akkouche got Saint John on the board at 1:36 of the second period, beating Titan goaltender George Gallant on a shorthanded breakaway. 

Bathurst tied the game at 6:05 when Ty Peddigrew finished off a nice tic-tac-toe passing play, tapping the puck past Brideau from the slot. 

Saint John retook the lead at 11:21 with a power play goal. Matthew MacLean made a lovely backhand pass to Beveridge who made it 2-1 Saint John. Then at 13:52, Dawson Sharkey scored to tie things back up.

The Sea Dogs took a 3-2 lead into the dressing room thanks to a second goal from Beveridge at 17:02.

Bellemare showed off his speed once again at 6:45 of the third period, flying through the Titan defense and then beating Titan goaltender Mathis Lacroix-Goulet glove side to make it 4-2 Sea Dogs. Bellemare then scored again at 17:06, this time on a power play, to give the Dogs a 5-2 advantage.

Pre-Season Game Day 3: vs Titan

SAINT JOHN - The unofficial first half of Saint John Sea Dogs training camp comes to an end tonight at TD Station.

The Sea Dogs will host the Acadie-Bathurst Titan in their final pre-season game until Sept. 8. Tonight's match will be the final chance for a number of players to make one final impression on the team's management and coaches.

Saint John has just 28 players remaining in camp following cuts on Wednesday and Thursday. There are a few battles remaining at every position — forward depth, defensive depth and in net.

Game time tonight is 7 p.m.

TV/Radio/Stream: None/None/None

2023 pre-season records: The Sea Dogs are 1-1-0-0 for two points while the Titan are 2-1-0-0 for four points.

2022-23 regular season records: The Sea Dogs finished 24-38-5-1 for 54 points (fifth Maritimes/ninth Eastern/15th QMJHL) while the Titan were 20-40-5-3 for 48 points (sixth Maritimes/10th Eastern/18th QMJHL).

Last games: The Sea Dogs fell 6-4 to the Charlottetown Islanders on Wednesday in Pownal, PEI. Kency Pierre-Noel scored twice for Saint John while Benjamin Beaudry and Chad Bellemare added singles. Sebastian Monaco and Charles-Antoine Girard took the loss in net. The Titan are coming off a 6-1 win over the Moncton Wildcats on Wednesday in Miramichi. Colby Huggan scored twice for Bathurst while singles came from Emile Perron, Dawson Sharkey, Samuel Frechette and Louis-Francois Belanger. Joshua Fleming made 23 saves in the win.