trade period

[bd]

I don't really know if this should go in this thread but one of the new players is arriving in PEI in this weekend. Considering he will need to isolate for 4 days, that is still a bit early for the Jan 17 start. Maybe it's because he is new? Might get an intro the rink and the staff and such

[Edguy]

Jan 6, 2022 21:34:33 GMT -4 bd said:

I don't really know if this should go in this thread but one of the new players is arriving in PEI in this weekend. Considering he will need to isolate for 4 days, that is still a bit early for the Jan 17 start. Maybe it's because he is new? Might get an intro the rink and the staff and such

Yeah he'd wanna get comfortable with surroundings and team. Also his billet family.
Nothings worse than playing in an unfamiliar surrounding with unfamiliar people.

[islander19]

I would assume that Atleast some of the players are back on the island…they could likely get some skates in with smaller numbers than the full squad.

[archie]

Not sure this tweet will age well! They only have one 2005 left in the line-up and there is a next year if covid doesn't get us

[bois]

Jan 7, 2022 12:12:34 GMT -4 archie said:

Not sure this tweet will age well! They only have one 2005 left in the line-up and there is a next year if covid doesn't get us

what tweet?

also there is no rule you need to have any 16 year olds playing lol

next year and the year following there will be many many many openings for any 04-05-06 players we have or will draft

[Score]

I personally would prefer Bowness over Archibald every day.

[bois]

Jan 7, 2022 12:54:09 GMT -4 Score said:

I personally would prefer Bowness over Archibald every day.

Considering Archibald was just claimed off waivers by moncton guess youre gettin all your wishes now lol

[archie]

Traffic moving slowly on the 104 a real nor Easter" Covid, snow, and no Hockey, almost nightmare status!

[Captain Obvious]

Jan 7, 2022 14:52:22 GMT -4 archie said:

Traffic moving slowly on the 104 a real nor Easter" Covid, snow, and no Hockey, almost nightmare status!

Apocalypse!!!

[switchback]

Apparently league won’t return until each arena can be 50% capacity according to Mikael Lalancette if that’s the case it’s not looking good

[Deleted]

I placed this story here because it leads off with the Charlottetown trade deadline moves. It's a really nice overview by Willy Palov.

I'm not sure what the policy is here on the forum as far as posting whole stories rather than links - but from my own personal dealings with the various newspapers and writers over the past 20 years or so - they've always been OK with it as long as you provide proper credit to the source.

Hey - if you go out there shoveling tomorrow - it's really heavy snow. We got walloped in the Northeast part of NS. Pace yourself.

FROM THE CHRONICLE-HERALD (SALTWIRE):
Who were the big winners at the QMJHL trade deadline?
Friday January 7, 2022
Willy Palov

So that was quite the deadline flurry to wrap up the QMJHL trade period on Thursday.

Twenty-four players and dozens of draft picks changed teams on the final day of activity as contenders scrambled to put the finishing touches on their rosters. So who helped themselves the most? Here's a look at which teams are now best suited to win it all.

Charlottetown Islanders: Head coach/general manager Jim Hulton always shows a shrewd knack for making calculated moves to address specific needs. He never seems to go overboard with how many deals he makes, paying close attention not to disrupt the chemistry of his core.

His most important manoeuvres came early when he acquired an experienced goalie in Franceso Lapenna and another veteran on defence in Jeremie Biakabutuka. Despite having elite defenders Noah Laaouan, Lukas Cormier, Oscar Plandowski and William Trudeau on the blue line, the Islanders were a tad thin there and in goal so getting those deals done before Christmas freed Hulton up to take his time getting some scoring depth.

He plugged those holes on the final day with the acquisition of Zachary Roy and Dawson Stairs, as well as supporting forward Owen Saye. All three players are 19 years old and Roy and Stairs are both averaging around a point per game so they will complement current Islanders scorers Xavier Simoneau, Brett Budgell, Patrick Guay and Jakub Brabanec quite nicely on the top two lines.

Hulton might be the best coach in the league at getting his teams to play as a unit so I can't wait to see how this group comes together leading into the playoffs.

Bathurst Titan: The firepower on this team was already intimidating but GM Sylvain Couturier then went out and added league scoring leader Felix Lafrance, power-play weapon Thomas Belgarde and the highest-scoring defenceman in the league, Miguel Tourigny. Mixing them into a group that already included Hendrix Lapierre, Riley Kidney, Bennett MacArthur, Jacob Melanson, Cole Huckins, Ben Allison and Logan Chisholm is downright scary.

The challenge now for Bathurst will be keeping the puck out of its own net. The supporting cast on defence behind Tourigny is decent but perhaps not at the level of what Charlottetown or some of the other powerhouses have, while the goaltending tandem of Jan Bednar and Chad Arsenault is still somewhat unproven.

The X factor is behind the bench. Couturier replaced veteran Mario Durocher with Jason Clarke in late November and the early results were encouraging. This is Clarke's first QMJHL head coaching gig but he brings a ton of experience and a strong reputation from Junior A leagues in Ontario. If he keeps hitting the right notes and can create an effective team defensive structure, the Titan will be hard to stop.

Saint John Sea Dogs: Nobody was busier than Trevor Georgie on Thursday. The Saint John GM made five deadline trades that involved a staggering 14 players and 26 draft picks.

New faces Philippe Daoust, Connor Trenholm, Raivis Kristians Ansons, Nikolas Hurtubise and Marshall Lessard are all top-end players, as are defencemen Vincent Sevigny and Yan Kuznetzov who joined the Sea Dogs in December.

This team already had players like William Dufour, Josh Lawrence, Brady Burns, Jeremie Poirier, Ryan Francis and William Villeneuve in the fold so there is little doubt this roster now - on paper at least - is worthy of hosting the Memorial Cup in a few months. But the turnover in personnel is rather extreme so the pressure on head coach Gordie Dwyer to turn this group into a cohesive machine in a short period is immense.

Quebec Remparts: This was never really the year head coach/GM Patrick Roy wanted to go all in. His core is better suited for a run next season but the Remparts still have enough talent and depth to be a real threat this year.

The only trade of any consequence Quebec made was for 20-year-old winger Conor Frenette, who is an underrated scorer and won a league title last year with the Victoriaville Tigers. The price to get him was reasonable so there wasn't much risk adding him to a scoring group that is led by quality players Theo Rochette, Zachary Bolduc, Nathan Gaucher and James Malatesta.

The defence corps isn't exactly star-studded and overage goalie Fabio Iacobo is a good goalie who also won last year's President Cup with the Tigres but he was the backup.

Shawinigan Cataractes: A top three of Mavrik Bourque, Xavier Bourgault and Olivier Nadeau is as good as it gets in this league but it didn't seem to make much sense for the Cataractes to join the arms race.

Veteran GM Martin Mondou made some calculated low-risk additions in Pierrick Dube and Loris Rafanomezantsoa and they'll give Shawinigan excellent help in the playoffs. If the Cataractes can stay healthy in the post-season and ride their top two lines and first two defence pairings, they can certainly make some noise.

These are the five teams I see as the leading candidates to win the President Cup but there are a few others who could easily emerge as second-tier spoilers, namely the Sherbrooke Phoenix, Halifax Mooseheads and Gatineau Olympiques. There are enough dangerous forwards and quality defenders and goalies on those teams to make contenders worry.

Young teams that are stocked with blue-chip up-and-comers are always prime candidates to pull off upsets because they get to play with no pressure in the playoffs. They can sometimes be a nightmare for tense juggernauts that were built to win at all costs.

And by the way, evaluating which sellers improved themselves the most during the QMJHL trade period is really an impossible exercise.

The majority of significant deals in the Q are based around future considerations that aren't revealed until the summer so most of the noteworthy trades as they appear on paper in December and January are rarely the final price.

[bois]

Has anyone gotten read any response from Hulton himself about the trade deadline moves? lol

[countryboy]

There is an article in The Guardian with some verbal today. Also, there's a team released article with some quotes from the coach/GM as well.

Jan 10, 2022 10:13:29 GMT -4 bois said:

Has anyone gotten read any response from Hulton himself about the trade deadline moves? lol

[Deleted]

Once again, I'm not sure of the forum policy here when it comes to posting newspaper stories rather than links, but from my dealings over the past 20 years or so with many of the sportswriters - they're OK with it as long as you prominently credit the source.

FROM THE SALTWIRE NETWORK:
Trade deadline moves strengthen Charlottetown Islanders for a QMJHL title run
Jason Simmonds · Journalist
Monday January 10, 2022

CHARLOTTETOWN, P.E.I. — The Charlottetown Islanders have sent a clear message to their fans and players.

After acquiring five players in five trades during the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League (QMJHL) trade period from Dec. 19 to Jan. 6, the Islanders are all in for a championship run in 2022.

“There's not a lot of ways you can read it any other way,” said a chuckling Islanders general manager and head coach Jim Hulton in an interview with SaltWire Network following the QMJHL’s Jan. 6 trading deadline. “We are excited.

“It’s exciting to put this product on the ice for our fans who deserve it. Now, it’s time for us to move the expectations from paper into reality on the ice. We are looking forward to getting to work.”

The Islanders, who sit atop the overall standings of the 18-team league at 22-7-2-0 (won-lost-overtime losses-shootout losses), added size, experience and grit in three separate deals on the final day of the trade period.

“It’s exciting to put this product on the ice for our fans who deserve it. Now, it’s time for us to move the expectations from paper into reality on the ice. We are looking forward to getting to work.” - Jim Hulton

Overall, the Islanders have acquired five players who have combined to play 569 QMJHL games.

“We are very happy,” said Hulton. “We think we upgraded goaltending, defence and forwards. We touched on all three areas.”

The Islanders acquired six-foot-four, 203-pound goaltender Francesco Lapenna from the Drummondville Voltigeurs on Dec. 19; six-foot-four and 203-pound defenceman Jérémie Biakabutuka from the Rimouski Oceanic on Dec. 21, and three forwards – five-foot-11, 199-pound Dawson Stairs (Cape Breton Eagles), six-foot, 183-pound Zachary Roy (Blainville-Boisbriand Armada), and five-foot-11, 185-pound Owen Saye (Shawinigan Cataractes) – on Jan. 6. All five players are in their 19-year-old season.

“We are bigger with the acquisitions of Biakabutuka and Roy in particular,” said Hulton. “They are big-body guys, and Stairs is another one.

“Saye is an under-the-radar kid who plays a heavy game. We think, most importantly, we made changes, but we made playoff-style changes.”

Coach’s Comments
Charlottetown Islanders head coach Jim Hulton comments on the three players acquired on Jan. 6:

Forward Dawson Stairs: “Dawson has been a guy we have been intrigued by dating back to his draft year. We know him and have played a lot against him with Saint John and Cape Breton. We see him as a goal-scorer, pure shooter. He’s a guy who can beat goalies with his shot from a distance, which is a note of a goal-scorer. We think with the high-end talent that we have, he can slide into our top two lines and be a big offensive contributor right away.”

Forward Zachary Roy: “Zach is a guy who really seemed to blossom, particularly offensively, this year. He’s (averaging) over a point a game. He's a big-body right shot, and two things we were looking to address are our size, and we don’t have a lot of right shots. He’s played on the top line in Blainville this year and has had an extremely productive season. In particular, if you look at his stats, a lot of it has been done 5-on-5. That's the sign of a competitive player. He competes very hard and plays a style we want to play. We feel he’s a good fit for what we are looking for.”

Forward Owen Saye: “Owen was a free agent out of Ontario playing on a good Shawinigan team and was quietly putting up half a point a game. This (trade) came about late. It was more a situation of I think (Shawinigan) made some other moves, so for a ninth-round draft pick, we thought it was well worth bringing in a guy whose reports tell us skates very well, is another right shot and a physical guy who enjoys that aspect of the game. When you think of playoffs, you think of depth, you think of the physical play, and we thought he was a guy who can really help in those two areas.”

To complete the deals, the Islanders sent 18-year-old goaltender Jacob Goobie and 17-year-old forward Sam Oliver to Drummondville; 17-year-old defenceman Mathis Aguilar to Rimouski and 16-year-old forward Matis Ouellet to Cape Breton. The Islanders traded 11 draft picks over the next three years and acquired three picks.

Hulton said, as has always been the case, the price to load up for a championship run is young talent.

“We are pleased with what we got, and I don’t think we had to sell the farm,” said Hulton. “I think there is some logic to the short-term plan, and the long-term plan will come into a little clearer focus as time goes on.”

The organization’s depth also factored in the ability to make these transactions, which Hulton said is a credit to the work of the team’s scouts, led by head scout Trevor Birt.

“When we look down the road, we are confident of some names who can come in and play (next season),” said Hulton. “We have put ourselves in a position with some of our home-grown talents.

“You look at a guy like (forward and team captain) Brett Budgell, who has been here five years, and (defenceman) Lukas Cormier. A lot of this dates back to four years ago when we took Cormier.


“We made a big trade three or four years ago for (defenceman) Noah Laaouan, all with the eye towards this year, hoping that, at maturity, we would be in the position that we are now.

“(The players) did their job; now it was our job to surround them with the pieces we feel are necessary.”

Budgell said, from a player’s perspective, it’s exciting to see the organization make these moves. Budgell said everyone in the dressing room is ready to make a good run at a league championship.

"When you see how serious not only the management but also the owners are taking this year, we are really excited to add the big pieces that we did," said the 20-year-old Budgell. "We are excited about every guy we brought in."

Stairs said he was excited to receive a phone call informing him of the trade to the Islanders.

Stairs, a regular opponent of the Islanders over the last four years with Saint John and Cape Breton, said Charlottetown has always been a tough team to play.

“I’m going to bring my game,” said Stairs. “(I will) shoot lots, try to throw hits and try to bring energy to the team and fans.”

Stairs had a quick phone conversation with Hulton following the trade.

In another roster move announced Jan. 7, the Moncton Wildcats claimed Islanders forward Sam Archibald on waivers. Archibald had one goal and an assist in 21 regular-season games with the Islanders this year.

Statistics
A look at the statistics for players acquired by the Charlottetown Islanders in recent trades:

Goaltender Francesco Lapenna
2021-22 Season
Drummondville Voltigeurs
GP W L SO GAA Sv%
21 9 12 0 2.99 .906

QMJHL Career
GP W L SO GAA Sv%
80 37 41 3 3.03 .905

****

Defenceman Jérémie Biakabutuka
2021-22 Season
Rimouski Oceanic
GP G A Pts PIM
23 5 7 12 33

QMJHL Career
GP G A Pts PIM
188 18 44 62 130

****

Forward Dawson Stairs
2021-22 Season
Cape Breton Eagles
GP G A Pts PIM
31 9 15 24 12

QMJHL Career
GP G A Pts PIM
139 41 42 83 84

****

Forward Zachary Roy
2021-22 Season
Blainville-Boisbriand Armada
GP G A Pts PIM
30 11 25 36 8

QMJHL Career
GP G A Pts PIM
132 33 46 79

****

Forward Owen Saye
2021-22 Season
Shawinigan Cataractes
GP G A Pts PIM
30 6 8 14 29

Career
GP G A Pts PIM
30 6 8 14 29

Jason Simmonds is a sports editor with the SaltWire Network in Prince Edward Island.