Sea Dogs in demand on draft day
By Josh Sweetland/CHL
Tuesday July 7, 2015
After a promising season with a young group of players, the Saint John Sea Dogs entered the 2015 NHL Draft in Sunrise, Florida as one of the NHL scouting community’s hot commodities.
With 10 draft eligibles on the roster, online mock drafts and blogs were abuzz, slating Sea Dogs talent throughout the 211-pick NHL Draft. When the dust settled, a franchise high seven players had donned NHL jerseys, with a pair of defencemen in Jakub Zboril and Thomas Chabot being selected in the first round.
Zboril was the first Sea Dog off the board, being the first of three consecutive Boston Bruins selections at 13th overall. Chabot followed close behind, being selected by the Ottawa Senators at 18th.
Chabot credited recently named Sea Dogs assistant coach Paul Boutilier, formerly the club’s Director of Player Development & Analytics, with helping him develop.
“This guy really knows the defensive side of the game,” Chabot said of Boutilier, the 1982 QMJHL Defenceman of the Year. “He played on the blueline and was one of the best QMJHL defencemen of his time. Each and every defenceman in Saint John can say we’re proud to have him around to help us.”
Joining Zboril and Chabot were five forwards including Philadelphia Flyers fourth round selection Samuel Dove-McFalls, Tampa Bay fourth round selection Mathieu Joseph, Carolina Hurricanes fifth rounder Spencer Smallman, Tampa Bay sixth choice Bokondji Imama and Detroit Red Wings seventh round pick Adam Marsh.
“There were six of us at the combine together,” said Mathieu Joseph of his Sea Dogs teammates. “It’s been so much fun to play together this year and have so many NHL scouts at our games. It’s been great to share this moment with them because it’s the best day of our lives.”
The seven players selected is the highest total in Sea Dogs franchise history, surpassing the 2011 MasterCard Memorial Cup championship team that saw five players drafted led by first round selections Jonathan Huberdeau (Florida), Nathan Beaulieu (Montreal) and Zack Phillips (Minnesota). Seven players is the highest CHL total since the WHL’s Portland Winterhawks had eight players selected in the 2010 NHL Draft.
The future looks bright in Saint John under recently named head coach Danny Flynn.
After a 32-26-4-6 season this year, the club sees 19 players eligible to return including 2014 first overall QMJHL Draft selection Luke Green on the blueline and undrafted centreman and leading scorer Nathan Noel.
Additionally, the Sea Dogs get a significant injection of offence into their lineup in the form of 15 year-old rookie sensation Joseph Veleno, the first overall pick in the 2015 QMJHL Draft and first ever player from Quebec to be granted exceptional player status. Veleno joins OHL draftees in Connor McDavid, Sean Day, Aaron Ekblad and John Tavares as 15 year-olds to be granted exceptional status by Hockey Canada.
With Veleno, Noel, Green and seven recent NHL draft picks in the lineup, the Sea Dogs are one of the CHL’s teams to keep an eye on in 2015-16.
“There are a lot of players who have grown and developed; next year they’re going to be an exciting team to watch,” Director of NHL Central Scouting Dan Marr told NHL.com’s Mike Morreale.
“I think we’re going to be a good team next season,” Mathieu Joseph added. “I think a couple guys are really improving too, so we’ll see what happens. I’m not going to say too much, but I think we’ll be a team to watch in the next couple of years.”
A total of 30 QMJHL players were selected in the 2015 NHL Draft among the 95 chosen from across the Canadian Hockey League. The 30 QMJHL players selected also featured at least one from all 18 clubs for the first time in modern NHL Draft history.
QMJHL Players Selected in the 2015 NHL Draft:
(Click on a player to watch post-draft interview)
First round (5 QMJHL players):
9. Timo Meier (Halifax Mooseheads) – San Jose Sharks
13. Jakub Zboril (Saint John Sea Dogs) – Boston Bruins
18. Thomas Chabot (Saint John Sea Dogs) – Ottawa Senators
19. Evgeny Svechnikov (Cape Breton Screaming Eagles) – Detroit Red Wings
28. Anthony Beauvillier (Shawinigan Cataractes) – New York Islanders
Second Round (7 QMJHL players):
31. Jeremy Roy (Sherbrooke Phoenix) – San Jose Sharks
36. Gabriel Gagne (Victoriaville Tigres) – Ottawa Senators
40. Nicolas Meloche (Baie-Comeau Drakkar) – Colorado Avalanche
46. Daniel Sprong (Charlottetown Islanders) – Pittsburgh Penguins
48. Filip Chlapik (Charlottetown Islanders) – Ottawa Senators
52. Jeremy Lauzon (Rouyn-Noranda Huskies) – Boston Bruins
55. Yakov Trenin (Gatineau Olympiques) – Nashville Predators
Third Round (4 QMJHL players):
64. Dennis Yan (Shawinigan Cataractes) – Tampa Bay Lightning
66. Guillaume Brisebois (Acadie-Bathurst Titan) – Vancouver Canucks
71. Jean-Christophe Beaudin (Rouyn-Noranda Huskies) – Colorado Avalanche
77. Samuel Montembeault (Blainville-Boisbriand Armada) – Florida Panthers
Fourth Round (6 QMJHL players):
93. Callum Booth (Quebec Remparts) – Carolina Hurricanes
96. Nicolas Roy (Chicoutimi Sagueneens) – Carolina Hurricanes
98. Samuel Dove-McFalls (Saint John Sea Dogs) – Philadelphia Flyers
100. Anthony Richard (Val-d’Or Foreurs) – Nashville Predators
115. Alexandre Carrier (Gatineau Olympiques) – Nashville Predators
120. Mathieu Joseph (Saint John Sea Dogs) – Tampa Bay Lightning
Fifth Round (4 QMJHL players):
123. Conor Garland (Moncton Wildcats) – Arizona Coyotes
125. Dmytro Timashov (Quebec Remparts) – Toronto Maple Leafs
138. Spencer Smallman (Saint John Sea Dogs) – Carolina Hurricanes
144. Carl Neill (Sherbrooke Phoenix) – Vancouver Canucks
Sixth Round (3 QMJHL players):
161. Sergei Boikov (Drummondville Voltigeurs) – Colorado Avalanche
177. Simon Bourque (Rimouski Oceanic) – Montreal Canadiens
180. Bokondji Imama (Saint John Sea Dogs) – Tampa Bay Lightning
Seventh Round (1 QMJHL player):
200. Adam Marsh (Saint John Sea Dogs) – Detroit Red Wings