Veleno Granted Exceptional Status

It actually happened.

From the QMJHL website:

Quebec Major Junior Hockey League Commissioner, Gilles Courteau was informed by Hockey Canada this afternoon that Joseph Veleno has been granted exceptional status and is eligible for the 2015 QMJHL Entry Draft in Sherbrooke.

The 15-year old Veleno becomes the first player in QMJHL history to be granted exceptional status.

Just how “exceptional” Veleno is is up for debate. But most draft experts agree – he is the best player available in this year’s draft class. The Sea Dogs will pick first overall on Saturday, a pick that now appears poised to be quite historic.

Veleno had 16 goals and 36 assists in 41 games with the Lac St-Louis Lions this past season. He also had 10 points in six games with Team Quebec at the Canada Games.

Veleno was originally denied exceptional status, reportedly because he missed the deadline to apply. Reports began to surface over the past week that Hockey Canada was reconsidering the decision.

The 2000-born centre isn’t eligible for the NHL Draft until 2018.

2015 QMJHL Entry Draft Info

Some basic info about Saturday’s 2015 QMJHL Entry Draft…

When: Saturday morning at 11 a.m.

Where: Palais des Sports Leopold-Drolet, Sherbrooke, Quebec

Saint John’s picks:

Round 1 - 1st overall

Round 1 - 9th overall

Round 1 - 10th overall

Round 3 - 46th overall

Round 3 - 51st overall

Round 6 - 100th overall

Round 9 - 154th overall

Round 9 - 159th overall

Round 10 - 172nd overall

Round 11 - 187th overall

Round 11 - 190th overall

Round 12 - 208th overall

Round 12 - 212th overall

Round 13 - 226th overall

Round 14 - 244th overall

How to follow: Apparently TVA Sports will be broadcasting the draft this year. The QMJHL website will be posting the picks live and just about every Twitter follower of the league will be tweeting picks as well.

Draft guide: For more info on the draft, we recommended purchasing HockeyProspect.com’s guide.

A Look At This Year's Top Prospects

By Kevin Chambers | SN Staff

Over the next few days we’ll have a look at some of the top prospects for the 2015 QMJHL Entry Draft. Our friends at HockeyProspect.com have once again created an excellent guide for the draft and we’ll be looking at some of their thoughts on these top players. For a more in depth look at their rankings and player reviews you can purchase the guide for $20. It’s a must purchase for QMJHL hockey fans that want an even more in depth look at the players for Saturday’s draft.

Maxime Comtois - LW - Chateauguay Grenadiers (LHMAAAQ) - 6’0” 176lbs

A very dangerous offensive weapon for the Chateauguay Grenadiers, Comtois combines an excellent wrist shot with pinpoint accuracy and shoots from anywhere. He’s very good one on one with defenders in the offensive zone. As strong as Comtois is at scoring goals he’s an exceptional playmaker often finding open teammates with tape-to-tape passing, making him even more dangerous as an elite offensive player. Overall his skating is good but an area that Comtois will be looking to improve upon as he could improve on his speed and explosiveness. Comtois should have no trouble cracking a QMJHL roster next season with his size and skill set.

Antoine Morand - C - Chateauguay Grenadiers (LHMAAAQ) - 5’9” 156lbs

Morand is the teammate of top ranked forward Maxime Comtois and often spent time on the ice at the same time. Morand is without a doubt one of the top skaters in the entire draft, using his speed to often burn defenders and pressures on the forecheck. He’s not the biggest forward but doesn’t let his size deter him from going to the dirty areas of the ice. Morand is more of a playmaker with excellent vision, but he can still finish with an excellent wrist shot and a quick release. He’s a very responsible player that will work hard at both ends of the ice - including killing penalties.

Shane Bowers - LW/C - Halifax Macs (MSMMHL) - 6’ 0” 162lbs

Bowers is the top ranked player from Atlantic Canada and could hear his name called first on Saturday morning by the Saint John Sea Dogs. GM Darrell Young is very familiar with Bowers having coached him in the past in lacrosse and Nova Scotia prospects. Bowers is an excellent skater with top end speed and explosiveness. He has elite level vision and can make plays at top speed, making him a very dangerous offensive weapon. He has great hands, making him dangerous both as a playmaker and a goal scorer. Bowers doesn’t shy away from the physical aspects of the game and is willing to play both ends of the ice. 

Sea Dogs Hold Draft Flexibility

By Kevin Chambers | SN Staff

The Saint John Sea Dogs currently have three first round draft selections in the 2015 QMJHL Draft, which gets underway this Saturday in Sherbrooke, QC. Over the next few days we will be looking at different aspects of the draft with some of the options that the Sea Dogs have with their current draft picks. Also this week and leading up to the draft, we’ll go over some of the draft’s prospects that could potentially be Sea Dogs players as well as produce a mock draft for the first round - which I’m sure will be chewed apart by the many trades I expect to see on draft day.

So we start our draft coverage with a look at just a few of the draft options the Sea Dogs have this year.  It’s certainly one of the most intriguing drafts in the franchise’s history – and with three picks in the top ten there are no shortage of options.

The best place to start is at the top where the Sea Dogs have won the coin toss for the fourth time in four attempts – clearly this is a strength the team will not need to be address at the draft.  The top pick in this year’s draft has had plenty of attention and, as of today, it’s still unclear what is going to happen.  Joseph Veleno (Quebec) had applied for the “Exceptional Status” rule but had missed the deadline, thus his request had been denied. That was until recently when John Moore tweeted that Hockey Canada had been reconsidering the Veleno application. At this point we have no idea what will happen but it’s certainly a headache for people that might be trying to prepare a draft guide or a mock draft. It will certainly be interesting to follow this story as the week progresses and we inch closer to draft day. No matter the outcome of the Veleno situation, don’t expect the Sea Dogs to trade out of the No. 1 slot as there are three excellent young QMJHL prospects available including Shane Bowers (Nova Scotia), Maxime Comtois (Quebec) and his teammate Antoine Morand (Quebec) who are all very skilled players and future stars in the QMJHL.

It may not take long for the Sea Dogs to make more noise on draft day this year. The feeling is by draft day we should have a pretty good idea of who Saint John will take with the first overall selection. It’s the picks shortly after that pick when things could get very interesting for the Sea Dogs and their fans. Currently the Sea Dogs also hold the ninth and tenth selections in the first round of the draft and the Sea Dogs’ brass will have several options to consider.

NHL Combine Gets Underway

QUEBEC CITY - The 2015 NHL Combine gets underway today and there will be plenty of Sea Dogs in attendance.

Of the 120 players expected to be in attendance, six will be from the Sea Dogs. Defensemen Jakub Zboril and Thomas Chabot and forwards Nathan Noel, Adam Marsh, Samuel Dove-McFalls and Mathieu Joseph are all scheduled to participate in medical and fitness testing June 1-6 in Buffalo.

According to NHL.com, “the Scouting Combine will give amateur scouts and general managers an opportunity for 1-on-1 interviews with the prospects at First Niagara Center from June 1-5. The medical examinations of each player will take place June 4, and the majority of the fitness testing will take place June 6 at HarborCenter. No player can test until clearing the medical screening.”

Meanwhile, in Future Considerations’ final NHL Draft rankings, Zboril was ranked 20^th and Chabot 21^st.

TSN’s Craig Button also released his final rankings last week. The Sea Dogs ranked are as follows:

19. Thomas Chabot

26. Jakub Zboril

65. Adam Marsh

71. Nathan Noel

75. Mathieu Joseph

89. Spencer Smallman

94. Samuel Dove-McFalls

The 2015 NHL Draft takes place June 26-27 in Florida.

Sea Dogs HHOF Stuff On Display

QUEBEC CITY - At the 2015 Memorial Cup, the Hockey Hall of Fame's mobile junior hockey exhibit made an appearance.

The exhibit included the CHL's major awards trophies and quite a bit of memorabilia from past players and teams. There were quite a few Sea Dogs related things on display and I took terrible photos of all of them to share with you. You're welcome.

Here's Gerard Gallant's name on the CHL Coach of the Year trophy.