Halifax Make No Moves at Deadline

There were rumours but in the end the general manager of our Halifax Mooseheads Cam Russell decided to make no moves before the winter trade deadline passed on Thursday afternoon. 

From the beginning, it was rumoured that the Herd would trade captain Elliot Desnoyers after he returned from the World Juniors. The Saint John Sea Dogs were the team he was reportedly going to be moved to but a deal could not be figured out then the Victoriaville Tigres were said to be interested as well. 

Photo - CBC

Russell said he felt more comfortable keeping the team's leadership group together to lead the young group. In an interview with Willy Palov after the deadline passed, Cam had this to say; "There were lots of conversations but the more we thought about it, we just felt keeping him here gives us two great lines and some important leadership to help our young players. If you look at the way Dumais and Vidicek have been playing this year, then you throw L'Heureux and Desnoyers in there, plus all the other players that stepped up, the benefit of keeping the leadership group together for this year and the long run made more sense." 

Halifax is the youngest club in the QMJHL with an average age of 17.76 and had a surprising first half of the season before the holiday break. The club finds themselves in second place in the Maritime division and will look to keep it up once play resumes whenever it does. 

Saint John, the Charlottetown Islanders and Acadie-Bathurst Titan all made big moves to help them in the second half. Charlottetown has already started to run away with the division lead and are continuing the very strong season they had last year. This seems to be the year for the Islanders. The Sea Dogs are scheduled to host the 2022 Memorial Cup from June 4-16 so they will be in the tournament no matter what but after a disappointing start, they are now prepared to make the move up the standings. Saint John added overage player Philippe Daoust, who has played in the AHL this season but is reportedly being sent back to the Q, and other veteran guys like Vincent Sevigny and Connor Trenholm who should all improve their offence. 

I'm glad to see that Elliot is staying with the Mooseheads. Whenever the second half gets underway, it should be a fun and intense next few months.