Eagles GM looking to “add” to roster during trade period
With the opening day of the Quebec Maritimes Junior Hockey League trade period approaching on Sunday, the Cape Breton Eagles will be looking to add to their roster moving into the second half of the 2023-2024 season.
After his team struggled to produce offensively in the first half of the season, team General Manager Sylvain Couturier said scoring will be his focus come next week.
“Offence will be a priority for us,” he said. “We are going to try and work on our offensive game. So for us, we aren’t closing the door on a good QB guy who can run the powerplay. An offensive guy that can generate offence and that will help our forwards.”
As of Dec. 15, Cape Breton sits last in the QMJHL for goals scored with 77. Despite this, Couturier said his team has played well defensively which has allowed them to stay above .500.
“I feel pretty good about where we are,” he said. “Obviously, there is a bit of a lack of offence in the first half but that being said, it is a process and the players right now are playing the right way which is very important. Although we didn’t score a lot of goals, we didn’t give up a lot either so we know what has to be fixed and we are going to work on it. But we really like where we are right now.”
With a strong core of young players filling out this year’s team, and the potential return of 19-year-old Jacob Newcombe after the holiday break, Couturier said the Eagles roster is in good shape for the foreseeable future.
“We came here with a plan and we are following that plan. We have 17-18 players coming back next year…we have a lot of young guys coming up and knocking on the door. Hopefully they will all be on the team some day but at some point we have to make the best decision for our organization moving forward so we may have to sacrifice young players in any kind of deal we are going to make or maybe even some picks. We wanna keep this group together as much as possible so don’t expect to see a lot of movement but we are definitely going to try and move, potentially a few players and a few picks to get better.”
With key pieces in mind that can help improve the team’s power play units and five on five scoring, the Eagles will look to keep their focus on it’s current squad of players and some potential added star power that can take the team to the next level in the seasons to come.
“We are not going to be sellers, I know that. We are going to try and improve the team. Are we going to try and improve the team at any cost? I don’t think we are there yet, we are going to try and buy smartly. That might mean we are going to sacrifice some good picks and one or two good young players but at the end of the day, look at the group we have at 16-17 year olds. Lavoie, Dejardins, Waugh on defense, and also Milota, who I think will be the best goalie in the league sooner than later. Then up front, we have guys like Ricard, Shields, Pilling…it’s a good group. It’d be nice if they could all stay together but we know in hockey thats not always how it works but that being said we are definitely going to try and get better over the next few weeks and move forward.”
The league trade period begins Sunday, Dec. 17 and runs until Jan. 6, 2024.