Our 20s: Saint John Sea Dogs

Swept by the Drummondville Voltigeurs in the first round of the playoffs, the Saint John Sea Dogs have said goodbye to their three 20-year-old players, Brody Fournier, Drew Elliott and Patrick Leaver.

A native of Ottawa, Fournier was a first-round pick of the Hamilton Bulldogs in the OHL in 2020. He played two more years in the Central Canada Hockey League (CCHL) with the Smiths Falls Bears, dominating the league with 37 goals in 55 games in 2021-2022.

He then joined the Halifax Mooseheads, with whom he played a year and a half before being traded to Saint John, where he completed the 2023-2024 season with 26 points (14-12) in 35 games.

Fournier will play for the University of Dalhousie next season, where he will face Elliott, with the University of New Brunswick, and Leaver, with St. Francis Xavier University.

Elliott, drafted 26th overall by the Baie-Comeau Drakkar in 2019, leaves the QMJHL with 100 points (47-53) in 258 games.

Elliott broke into the Drakkar lineup as a 16-year-old, but 30 games later, he headed to Charlottetown, where he remained until July 2022.

He was then traded to Drummondville, before moving again, in January 2024, to Saint John. The forward completed his 20-year-old season with 32 points (18-14) in 66 games with the Voltigeurs and Sea Dogs.

Like Fournier, Leaver was drafted in the OHL, but in 2019,158th overall by the Oshawa Generals. And like Fournier, he played for Smiths Falls in the CCHL before moving up to the OHL in 2021-2022.

Midway through the following season, Oshawa traded him to the Guelph Storm, who released him in the summer of 2023. Leaver then turned to the Sea Dogs, with whom he assumed the role of number-one goaltender, recording a 14-25-4 record in 47 games, with a 4.23 GAA and .883 save percentage. Saint John finished 16th overall.

Good luck to all three in the USports!