Big day of trades in QMJHL

Candice Ward/CHL

To say it was an eventful day on the QMJHL trade front would be an understatement.

Three of the four teams that reached the league's semifinals this year began dismantling their rosters while a number of other clubs began to load up for runs next year and the following season.

Here's a quick recap of the day's biggest deals.

• One of the team's that loaded up Wednesday was the Rouyn-Noranda Huskies, making big deals to acquire Gatineau's Antonin Verreault along with Memorial Cup champions William Rousseau and Jeremy Langlois from the Quebec Remparts.
• Gatineau traded 20-year-old defenseman Olivier Boutin to the Acadie-Bathurst Titan who then flipped him to the Moncton Wildcats.
• The Wildcats had an eventful day. Along with acquiring Boutin, they traded away goaltender Vincent Filion to the Rimouski Oceanic. They also dealt Hugo Marcil and Manix Sarrasin to the Sherbrooke Phoenix.
• The Phoenix began to unload their roster, dealing 44-goal scorer Justin Gill to the Baie-Comeau Drakkar. The Phoenix also traded 20-year-old forward Milo Roelens to the Titan.
• Sherbrooke's Ethan Gauthier is expected to be traded to Drummondville at some point before the end of Saturday's draft. The return is not known at this time.
• The Chicoutimi Sagueneens made one of the biggest trades of the day, acquiring 18-year-old goaltender Mathys Fernandez and the fourth overall pick in Saturday's draft from the Val-d'Or Foreurs in exchange for a bunch of picks, including Saturday's 11th overall selection and a first round pick (Cape Breton) in 2024.
• Gatineau also traded Charles-Antoine Pilote to the Foreurs.
• Quebec traded defenseman Charle Truchon, who was a standout at the Memorial Cup, to the Oceanic.

There were a bunch of other trades as well, many of which didn't involve players and were completing deals made at Christmas. The list can be found on the QMJHL website.

The Saint John Sea Dogs made just one trade Wednesday, completing the Cam MacDonald deal with the Olympiques.

The 2023 QMJHL Entry Draft takes place Saturday morning at 11 a.m. Atlantic in Sherbrooke. Moncton will select first followed by Chicoutimi, Blainville-Boisbriand, Chicoutimi (again) and Rimouski. The Sagueneens, who made four picks in the first round last year, are currently scheduled to select second, fourth and eighth overall, respectively.

Sea Dogs add another second round pick

Michael Hawkins/Saint John Sea Dogs

The Saint John Sea Dogs completed the Cam MacDonald trade on Wednesday.

During the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League's pre-draft trade period, the Sea Dogs sent a 2024 second round pick (Drummondville) to the Gatineau Olympiques in exchange for a 2023 second round selection (40th overall) and a third round pick (Acadie-Bathurst) in 2024.

The Sea Dogs have acquired an additional second round selection in this year’s entry draft. We now have three second round picks for the draft on Saturday. pic.twitter.com/HuKVS9BRce

— Saint John Sea Dogs (@SJSeaDogs) June 7, 2023

The Sea Dogs traded MacDonald to the Olympiques during the holiday trade period in exchange for a 2024 first round pick and the above 2024 second round pick (Drummondville).

Wednesday's deal means the Sea Dogs currently have three second round picks in Saturday's QMJHL Entry Draft. They are currently scheduled to pick 30th, 33rd and 40th overall, respectively.

The Sea Dogs selected three times in the second round of the 2021 QMJHL Entry Draft, picking Olivier Brideau, Cole Burbidge and Vince Elie. Saint John has had quite a bit of success with second round selections in recent drafts.

The 2023 QMJHL Entry Draft takes place Saturday morning at 11 a.m. Atlantic in Sherbrooke.

Sea Dogs have had success in second rounds

Michael Hawkins/Saint John Sea Dogs

While the Saint John Sea Dogs may not be picking in the first round (at this moment, anyways) of this year's QMJHL Entry Draft, there is still plenty of room for optimism.

The Sea Dogs are currently scheduled to pick twice in the second round — 30th and 33rd overall, respectively — where they've landed plenty of standout players in past drafts. Notably, Saint John picked three times in the 2021 QMJHL Entry Draft and landed goaltender Olivier Brideau along with forwards Cole Burbidge and Vince Elie, all of whom appear to be key pieces for the Sea Dogs moving forward.

When looking back over the years, some important players were taken with second round selections. The first few years featured the likes of Ryan Sparling, Michael Kirkpatrick and Kevin Gagne while 2013 had Thomas Chabot. Brady Burns, Charlie DesRoches and Peter Reynolds were all second round picks along with Charles Savoie, who lifted the Memorial Cup with the Quebec Remparts on Sunday.

It's hard to miss the success Saint John has had in second rounds over the past five drafts. Some of that certainly has to do with the Sea Dogs' ability to pry players away from college hockey intentions, something the franchise struggled to do in previous eras.

Here's a rundown of all the players the Sea Dogs have taken with second round picks over the years.

2022: No pick

2021: 36th overall - Vince Elie

2021: 29th overall - Cole Burbidge

2021: 27th overall - Olivier Brideau

2020: 38th overall - Simon Hughes

2019: 34th overall - Charles Savoie

2019: 21st overall - Peter Reynolds

2018: 32nd overall - Charlie DesRoches

2018: 29th overall - Brady Burns

2017: No pick

2016: 32nd overall - Shane Bowers

2015: No pick

2014: 22nd overall - Matthew Green

2013: 22nd overall - Thomas Chabot

2012: No pick

2011: 19th overall - Oliver Cooper

2010: No pick

2009: 28th overall - Aidan Kelly

2008: 32nd overall - Kevin Gagne

2007: 22nd overall - Michael Kirkpatrick

2006: 20th overall - Pascal Amyot

2005: 20th overall - Ryan Sparling

Saint John didn't make their first pick in last year's draft until the third round where they selected defenseman Jeremie Richard 37th overall.

The 2023 QMJHL Entry Draft takes place Saturday morning at 11 a.m. Atlantic in Sherbrooke.

Remparts keep Memorial Cup in QMJHL

The Memorial Cup is staying in the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League.

The Quebec Remparts produced another dominant defensive performance on Sunday night in Kamloops, shutting out the Western Hockey League champion Seattle Thunderbirds 5-0 to win the 2023 national championship.

The title is the QMJHL's fourth straight — the longest streak by any of the three junior leagues. The stretch began in 2018 with the Acadie-Bathurst Titan followed by the Rouyn-Noranda Huskies in 2019. After a two-year absence due to the pandemic, the Saint John Sea Dogs won on home ice last year.

Since Saint John's 2011 championship, the QMJHL has won seven of the past 11 Memorial Cup tournaments.

The winning moment for the @quebec_remparts! #MemorialCup

Le moment où les Remparts sont devenus champions de la #CoupeMemorial! pic.twitter.com/Py3JYRMRVw

— Canadian Hockey League (@CHLHockey) June 5, 2023

The win completes a dream season for the Remparts who were the QMJHL's regular season champs and went on to win the Gilles-Courteau Trophy with a fairly smooth run. They finished the Memorial Cup with a 3-1 record — their lone loss coming in a meaningless game against the Peterborough Petes.

As is often the case for the Memorial Cup champion, the stars came to play. Vsevolod Komarov, James Malatesta, Kassim Gaudet, Zachary Bolduc and Charles Savoie scored for the Remparts in the final. Captain Theo Rochette added two assists while William Rousseau made 32 saves in the victory.

Malatesta, a Columbus Blue Jackets prospect, was named tournament MVP. He finished the event with five goals in four games.

Notebook: Laforge Memorial Cup jersey up for sale

An interesting find on eBay recently: someone is selling a Nico Laforge jersey from Saint John's first game of the 2022 Memorial Cup. The asking price is just under $1,400 Canadian.

Laforge did not play in that game or in any games at last year's Memorial Cup.

"Not worn by player but appears to have been washed by the team," notes the seller.

LAWRENCE HONOURED

Former Sea Dogs forward Josh Lawrence was named to the CHL's second all-star team on Thursday.

Here's your CHL Second All-Star Team! #CHLAwards pic.twitter.com/9R6DZkGeOc

— Canadian Hockey League (@CHLHockey) June 1, 2023

Lawrence posted 50 goals and 119 points (his second straight season of 100+ points) in 69 games split between the Halifax Mooseheads and Blainville-Boisbriand Armada. He added 12 goals and 31 points in 21 playoff games.

Lawrence's teammates were also honoured. Jordan Dumais was named a first team all-star while Alexandre Doucet was on the third all-star squad.

QMJHL Entry Draft less than a week away

Former Saint John Sea Dogs goaltender Maxime Joyal will be in charge of the Gatineau Olympiques at this year's QMJHL Entry Draft.

The announcement was made on Friday following the decision of interim general manager Jean-François Fortin to step down from the position. The QMJHL Entry Draft is next Saturday.

“Maxime has been with our organization for three years as hockey operations advisor," stated an Olympiques news release. "He has worked closely with the hockey department on all transactions and draft selections over the past three seasons. In fact, he has been busy preparing for the 2023 draft for several months."

Joyal will be assisted by consultant Jacques Leblanc and Olympiques shareholder Derick Brassard.

This all follows Gatineau's May 23 decision to part ways with head coach and general manager Louis Robitaille. After being swept by the Quebec Remparts in the semifinals, the Olympiques are likely heading into a rebuild.

Joyal, now 36, appeared in 31 games with the Sea Dogs during the 2006-07 season, posting an 8-17-1 record to go along with a 4.99 goals against average and a .862 save percentage.

Here are a few other notes as the draft approaches...

• The 2023 QMJHL Entry Draft takes place next Saturday in Sherbrooke beginning at 11 a.m.
• JF Plante reports that goaltender Vincent Filion of the Moncton Wildcats will be traded to the Rimouski Oceanic. Filion has struggled to find his game in the QMJHL and will likely be Jacob Steinman's backup next season if he stays in Moncton.
• The Wildcats will pick first overall on Saturday and, as the Telegraph-Journal (paywall) reports, the team has made their decision on who to select. Forward Caleb Desnoyers is the projected No. 1 pick by draft experts.
• The Sea Dogs, at this time anyways, are not scheduled to select until the second-round.
• The Charlottetown Islanders have signed forward Matthew Butler, a fifth-round pick of the team in last year's QMJHL Entry Draft. Butler, a St. John's native who spent last season at Shattuck St. Mary's, is listed at 5'6" and 143 lbs.
• HockeyProspect.com's annual QMJHL Draft Guide is now available for purchase. Their rankings of the top-five players is available for free and is led by Desnoyers.