Since I've been on hiatus the last few months, I thought I would update you on some news that has happened.
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Cole Foston with GM Cam Russell
Photo - Mooseheads Twitter |
QMJHL DRAFT
The Q draft was on June in Quebec City, QC and Halifax didn't make a selection until the fourth round where they took Cole Foston with the 70th overall pick.
Only two trades were made in the first round while there were many draft picks switched between teams however the Mooseheads didn't make any moves during the day. Joshua Roy was selected 1st overall by the Saint John Sea Dogs.
Below is the 11 players selected by our Herd:
RD 4, #70 - F Cole Foston - Cole Harbour Wolfpack
RD 5, #88 - D Keegan Hunt - Moncton Flyers
RD 6, #106 - G Brady James - Lac-St-Louis Tigres
RD 7, #124 - C William Robitaille - Levis Chevaliers
RD 8, #142 - D Lucas Robinson - Western Nfld Kings
RD 9, #160 - RW Vincent Paquette - College St. Hilaire U18
RD 10, #178 - RW Olivier Tourchot - St. Eustache Vikings
RD 11, #196 - D Michael Sack - Cole Harbour Wolfpack
RD 12, #214 - D Justin Fernet - Trolet Harfangs
RD 13, #232 - F Merle Putman - Weeks Midgets
Click
here for a list of all draftees.
NEW COACHES
Halifax announced a few changes on the bench for the upcoming season. The first being a fifth head coach in the last 5 years.
Jean-Jacques Daigneault was named the bench boss for the 2019-20 season after Eric Veilleux was given a promotion to coach the AHL's Syracuse Crunch. This is the first head coaching position that Daigneault has had. The Montreal, QC native has been an assistant coach for the Phoenix RoadRunners (ECHL - 2005-06), Hartford Wolf Pack (AHL - 2007-12), Montreal Canadiens (NHL - 2012-18) and San Antonio Rampage (AHL - 2018-19). Halifax also got a new goaltending coach with the arrival of Joey Perricone. While not a coach, the Mooseheads announced that Chris MacDonald has moved on as well and have named Alex Ryan as their equipment manager.
IMPORT DRAFT
The Canadian Hockey League import draft was held at the end of June and our Mooseheads selected just one player since Marcel Barinka is returning to the lineup, there is only one Euro spot open. Halifax drafted Deurne, Belgium native Senna Peeters 48th in round 1 (47th overall). The 17-year-old played the 2018-19 season with the South Kent Selects Academy 16U team, collecting 66 points in 59 games.
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Timo Meier
Photo - The Hockey News |
SIGNINGS
A number of former Herd players have signed contracts over the summer. Defenceman Mackenzie Weegar put his name on the dotted line of a new agreement with the Florida Panthers of the NHL. The 25-year-old signed a 1 year 1 way contract.
Press release. Forward Timo Meier's entry level deal ended after the 2018-19 season and the San Jose Sharks determined that he was worth 4 more years. Meier has 108 points in 193 NHL games played.
Press release.
After being drafted in 2017, Arnaud Durandeau signed an entry level contract shortly after the Memorial Cup tournament ended and will play pro during the upcoming season. The 20-year-old was signed by the New York Islanders and since he would be an overager in 2019-20, the Isles can send him down to one of their affiliates instead of the QMJHL.
Press release. With a fantastic season on the Memorial Cup hosting team, Samuel Asselin secured himself a contract with the Boston Bruins and will play this year in Providence for the AHL Bruins.
American Danny Moynihan received an all clear from his doctor that he is healthy enough to play hockey again. The 23-year-old was signed by the ECHL Tulsa Oilers earlier this month and will be joined his brother Connor. The two brothers played for the Mooseheads for 2 and a half seasons from 2013-2016.
Press release.
Cameron Critchlow has signed a professional contract overseas. The Manchester Storm of the EIHL announced that Critchlow will join their team for the 2019-20 season.
Press release.
NHL DRAFT
Despite multiple Halifax Mooseheads being ranked by Central Scouting Services for the 2019 NHL draft, only one was actually selected in Vancouver. Raphael Lavoie was had to wait until the second day to hear his name but he finally did when the Edmonton Oilers picked him 38th overall.
The 18-year-old had a pretty good season, scoring 32 goals and 73 points during 62 regular season games. In the playoffs, he stepped up his game and his 20 goals led the QMJHL during the post-season.
Congratulations to Raphael on getting drafted. He participated in the Oilers development camp at the end of June and will undoubtedly
TRAINING CAMP
This year's training camp for the Herd started with a bit of a bang, as the team
announced they had traded forward Xavier Parent a day before camp opened. The 2001-born player was moved to the Sherbrooke Phoenix in return for Cam Whynot and a 3rd round pick in 2021. Parent played two seasons for Halifax, collecting 64 points. Xavier was selected 4th in the 2017 QMJHL draft by the Mooseheads. Whynot, a defenceman, was recently picked in the 2019 Q draft and is a Kentville native. The 16-year-old has been projected by scouts to be a standout D. The trade shocked some people but the team is without their top back end player; Jared McIsaac until the end of November and Jocktan Chainey announced that he is stepping away from hockey to concentrate on schooling.
So Halifax announced that camp would open with 51 players attending. The club made their
first round of cuts the morning after the first pre-season game, releasing 8 players on August 19. They than announced another trade, acquiring D Jason Horvath from the Shawinigan Cataractes for a 2020 6th round pick. Another round of cuts were made on August 22 when
6 hopefuls were released. The biggest round of cuts were made on August 24 with the
11 young guys cut leaving 27 at camp. It was announced that Kyle Petten decided to return to the MHL Campbellton Tigers.
An updated roster can be seen below.
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| Photo - Mooseheads website |
