There will be a few Halifax Mooseheads players and personnel on the international stage this summer.
First up was Canada's national U-17 development camp where three Herd prospects suited up in Oakville, Ontario last week. In total, 80 young men from across the country were invited to the camp then divided into four teams before playing exhibition matches against each other over three days. Jack Cameron and Emrik Menard teamed up on Canada Black while Maveric Thisdelle was put on Canada Gold. Thisdelle had the best showing, scoring twice and recording 3 points in three games meanwhile Menard scored a goal.
Mooseheads head coach Brad MacKenzie will be on the bench for Team Canada at the 2026 Ivan Hlinka Gretzky Cup it was announced earlier this month. The Charlottetown, PE native is set to wear the maple leaf as an assistant coach, helping North Bay Battalion's Ryan Oulahen.
"We are thrilled to welcome Ryan, Ryan, Brad and Kyle to the staff for the Hlinka Gretzky Cup," said Program of Excellence general manager Alan Millar. "Each brings a pedigree of coaching experience, particularly in short-term international competition, which will be a tremendous asset as we prepare for the tournament."
Photo - USA Hockey Twitter
Sophomore forward Malik L'Italien was among the 27 players unveiled to be on Hockey Canada's training camp roster. The camp is set for July 27-Aug. 1 in Edmonton, AB and will include practices and a game against Sweden on July 30. A list of the young men who will actually represent their country at the tournament is expected to be announced on this weekend.
USA Hockey has already released their roster for the Hlinka tournament and it showcases defenceman Cameron Minella. The 16-year-old played a full season for Halifax in 2025-26, recording nine points (3G & 6A) as a rookie. Congrats to Cam on being named to the team.
No one from the Mooseheads was named to the the World Juniors Summer Showcase rosters but that doesn't mean that one of our guys can't play their way on to representing their country after Christmas.
At the end of June, the Canadian Hockey League held their annual import draft and for the second year in a row, teams were allowed to pick up to three players on the day.
Our Halifax Mooseheads were able to make a big move twenty-four hours beforehand as they traded their 20th pick in the import draft to Baie-Comeau in return for the Drakkar's 2nd overall pick. The Quebec club also received two selections in the 2027 QMJHL Draft.
Photo - Herd Twitter
The move allowed Cam Russell and the Herd to select 17-year-old Paul Sintschnig of Klagenfurt, Austria. Sintschnig played at several levels in 2025-26 including 32 games with Villacher SV of the ICEHL - the premier professional hockey league in Austria, where he recorded 5 goals and 7 points. He boasts a high hockey IQ, makes intelligent plays across all three zones and isn't afraid to play physically, according to the team's release.
In the second round, Halifax drafted Sintschnig's fellow countryman and Villacher teammate Nico Uschan with the 81st pick. Uschan is a 19-year-old defenceman and will be looked upon to bring a steady, veteran presence to the team. The Villach-native scored a goal and had 4 points in 24 games played for the senior club.
Russell and the brass passed on their third round selection as sophomore Oleg Kulebiakin is set to return to the club in the upcoming season and teams are only allowed three import players.
Congrats to these two young men on being selected by the Mooseheads. We should see them suit up in the red and green when training camp opens up in mid-August.
Now that the NHL entry draft is over, teams are turning their attention to development camps and seeing which prospects they want to bring into training camp later in the summer. Only two current Mooseheads were drafted over the weekend but more were also named on rosters.
Photo - Elite Prospects
Check out the list below to see who will participate in development camps this week.
Shawn Carrier - Colorado (2026) - Colorado Avalanche development camp June 30-July 2 Mathieu Cataford - Vegas (2023) - Vegas Golden Knights development camp June 29-July 2 Carlos Handel - Montreal (2025) - Montreal Canadiens development camp June 30-July 2 Quinn Kennedy - undrafted - invited to Utah Mammoth development camp June 29-July 2 Oleg Kulebiakin - Tampa Bay (2026) - Tampa Bay Lightning development camp June 30-July 3 Dylan MacKinnon - Nashville (2023) - invited to Boston Bruins development camp June 29-July 2 Mateo Nobert - Vegas (2025) - Vegas Golden Knights development camp June 29-July 2 Daniel Walters - undrafted - invited to Los Angeles Kings development camp June 29-July 2
I've included Mateo Nobert on here even though he has not played a game for the Herd yet but the team traded for him earlier this month, so I can't see him not suiting up in the red and green. Tampa Bay released their camp roster before the draft and I have not seen an updated version with their new prospects but an article did mention Kulebiakin will be in attendance.
Hopefully we'll see some of these guys during rookie camps in September. Good luck to the young men this week.
Here are some notes from the NHL Entry Draft that was held this past weekend in Buffalo, NY...
No surprise, Yukon-native and Penn State Nittany Lions forward Gavin McKenna was drafted first overall by the Toronto Maple Leafs, who won the draft lottery last month.
Team personnel weren't even at the draft which I haven't seen before, so that led to a number of celebrities announcing the picks in the opening round on Friday night.
Multiple sons of former NHL players were selected, the most I think I've ever seen and to guys I watched as a teenager which is crazy. This included Caleb Malhotra who was chosen No. 3 by the Vancouver Canucks, a club that is coached by his father Manny Malhotra.
Halifax Mooseheads import forward Oleg Kulebiakin went in the second round, higher than he was ranked, to the Tampa Bay Lightning at 52nd overall.
After being passed over last year, forward Shawn Carrier was selected 195th overall by the Colorado Avalanche. The two other ranked players, Eddy Doyle and Daniel Walters were not drafted.
In total, 20 QMJHL players were drafted over the seven rounds in 2026
All three of the North American professional hockey leagues have been great for our Halifax Mooseheads alumni this past week as a former player has won a championship in each of the NHL, AHL and ECHL.
Photo - NHL Twitter
First, Nikolaj Ehlers (who played for Halifax between 2013-15) helped the Carolina Hurricanes win the franchise's second Stanley Cup championship on Sunday evening in Vegas. The 30-year-old scored an empty net goal during Game 6 of the final to clinch the trophy as the Canes won the match 3-0 to take the series 4-2. Ehlers finished the playoffs with eight goals and 10 assists in 18 games played, which was good enough for being tied-5th among the league leaders.
The Aalborg, Denmark native signed with Carolina almost a year ago as a free agent and was a big part of the club's great season as the Hurricanes won the Metropolitan division title before sweeping Ottawa and Philadelphia in the first two rounds. Raleigh's team were crowned the Eastern Conference champions after defeating the Montreal Canadiens in 5 games. Nikolaj had 71 points during the regular season to finish second in team scoring.
On Monday evening, defenseman Patrick Kyte became a Kelly Cup champion with the Florida Everblades as they defeated the Kansas City Mavericks in six games. The 2025-26 regular season was Kyte's first in a North American professional league and he played for three clubs over the year. Patrick, an alumnus from 2017-2020, recorded 2 goals and 12 points in 24 games while picking up 3 assists in 12 playoff matches. The Pembroke, ON native played just one game in the final series.
Florida won their fourth title in the last five seasons.
Photo - Everblades Twitter
26-year-old Benoit-Olivier Groulx also collected a trophy when the Toronto Marlies won Game 5 by a score of 4-3 on Friday evening on home ice to win the 2026 Calder Cup. Groulx scored the team's second goal of the match which was his 8th of the playoffs to go along with six assists. His 14 points in the post-season had him 10th among league leaders. After being drafted by the Anaheim Ducks in 2018, and playing in their system for five seasons from 2020-2025, the Gatineau, QC native signed a two year contract with the Toronto Maple Leafs as a free agent.
Photo - NHL Twitter
Congratulations to Nikolaj, Benoit-Olivier and Patrick Kyte along with their respective teams on winning the league titles. Moose Country is proud of all of you.
Halifax will play 64 games, including 32 at the Scotiabank Centre once again. The Mooseheads will begin on the road with a visit to their provincial rivals Cape Breton Eagles on September 18 at 7:00pm. It will be one of eight games on opening night in the league, which is not normal and neither is the first match being on a Friday.
Other highlights from the schedule include:
The Herd's home opener is set for September 19 against the Moncton Wildcats, puck drop is scheduled for 7:00 pm.
Halifax will make four trips to the province of Quebec with the first one being October 29-November 1 as the team visits Gatineau, Victoriaville and Sherbrooke.
A breakdown of the home schedule includes 11 Saturday games, eight Sundays, five Fridays, five Thursdays, two Wednesdays and one on Monday.
The longest home-stand of the season is six matches between October 8-24 while the Mooseheads are set to have two road trips of 4 games each.
Halifax's home finale on March 20 versus the Wildcats is also the club's last game of the regular season.
Events will be announced at a later date. The team's pre-season schedule was announced already. Fans can purchase ticket packages now for what some are anticipating should be an exciting contender season.
FREE AGENT SIGNING Our Halifax Mooseheads announced back on April 21 that they had signed free-agent forward Evan Nee. According to the Herd's press release; 'Nee, a native of Arlington, Massachusetts, will join the Mooseheads as he enters his 19-year-old season. The dynamic left-shooting forward stands 5'11" and weighs 185 pounds, bringing speed, skill, and a proven scoring touch to Halifax's lineup.' He played at St. Mark's School for the last 4 seasons and recorded 146 points during in 118 regular season games. Nee put up impressive numbers during 2025-26 while wearing the C on his jersey, scoring 25 goals and 32 assists over 30 games.
THIS IS MOOSE COUNTRY Check out the video below which is the second season finale episode of the This is Moose Country podcast.
SILVER FOR SWITZERLAND For the third year in a row, the Switzerland men's national hockey team secured a silver medal at the IIHF World Championships after losing 1-0 in overtime to Finland on May 31. In the 2026 version, the Halifax Mooseheads had three former players on the Swiss team in Attilio Biasca, Nico Hischier and Timo Meier. 27-year-old Hischier has been apart of all three final games in 2024, 2025 and 2026. I'm sure this loss was a disappointing one as the 2026 World Championship was hosted in Zurich and Fribourg, Switzerland. During a round robin game on May 21 against Austria, all three hooked up together for a goal that finished with Nico putting the puck in the net, see it below.
An All-Mooseheads goal for 🇨🇠Switzerland at the #MensWorlds.
🚨 Nico Hischier from Timo Meier & Attilio Biasca
— Halifax Mooseheads (@HFXMooseheads) May 21, 2026
DRAFT DAY TRADE General Manager Cam Russell announced a big move on June 5 during the first round of the draft. The team traded the third overall selection in the 2026 QMJHL Entry Draft to Blainville-Boisbriand, along with a 2027 second rounder plus forward Amelio Santini and goalie Nick Cirka in exchange for forward Mateo Nobert. Entering his 19-year-old season, Halifax is hoping that he will bring in more offence after recording 30 goals in 78 points in 62 games played for the Armada during 2025-26. Welcome to the team Mateo and good luck to Santini and Cirka with Blainville.
14 PICKED IN HALIFAX Talking about the draft, it was held in Halifax on June 5-6 and the Mooseheads pulled out the red carpet, literally. Prospects along with their families got to walk on the red carpet with fans cheering them on. The Herd selected 14 players over the twelve rounds, most of which are American (9). After trading their 3rd overall pick, Halifax was first up at seventh overall and before making their selection, a nice video was shown on the jumbotron to showcase the club.
Photo - Mooseheads website
Find the selections below: #7 - Emrik Menard RW (Woodbridge Wolfpack 16U) #20 - Jack Cameron D (Pictou County Weeks) #25 - Maveric Thisdelle RW (Woodbridge Wolfpack Premier 15's) #33 - John Queally C (St. Sebastian's School Arrow) #43 - Jack Fichthorn G (Sioux City Musketeers) #44 - Jackson Small C (Winchendon School Wapitis) #61 - Samuel Fishbone D (St. Sebastian's School Arrow) #72 - Carson Mertz G (Blackfalds Bulldogs) #97 - Chase Cleary C (Notre Dame College Albatros) #133 - Jake Donatelli D (St. George's School Dragons) #151 - William Laplante G (OHA Mavericks Prep U17) #164 - Jamie Calla C (Governor's Academy Governors) #187 - JP Montgomery D (St. Louis Blues AAA 16U) #205 - Aaron Carrier LW (Ecole Sec. la Decouverte D2)
Congrats to all the young men who were drafted. Looking forward to seeing these guys in August. Hear what Cam Russell and Allie MacDonald had to say in the Mooseheads draft panel here.
PRE-SEASON SCHEDULE The Quebec Major Junior Hockey League announced the pre-season schedule last week and our Mooseheads will play six games against three different teams. All times in ADT.
August 21 6:00 pm vs. Cape Breton Eagles (RBC Centre - Dartmouth, NS) August 22 7:00 pm at Cape Breton Eagles (Membertou Sport & Wellness Centre August 26 7:00 pm vs. Charlottetown Islanders (Zatzman Sportsplex) August 29 4:00 pm at Charlottetown Islanders (Simmons Sports Centre - Charlottetown, PE) September 4 7:00 pm at Saint John Sea Dogs (TD Station) September 11 7:00 pm vs. Saint John Sea Dogs (RBC Centre - Dartmouth, NS)
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