BOUCHERVILLE, Que. — The Saint John Sea Dogs will pick first overall after winning the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League draft lottery on Thursday.
Only the two teams that didn’t make the playoffs, the Acadie-Bathurst Titan and the Drummondville Voltigeurs, were in the lottery, but Saint John holds Drummondville’s top pick. Acadie-Bathurst will pick second when the draft is held June 6 in Sherbrooke, Que.
The Sea Dogs will choose first overall for a second year in a row after taking Luke Green in 2014. They also have the ninth and tenth picks in the first round.
"It’s very exciting for us as an organization to have the first overall pick again this year," Sea Dogs general manager Darrell Young told the league website. "There are several players with high-end talent available.
"With the No. 1 pick and three choices in the top ten, we’ve got flexibility to improve our club significantly."
Forward Shane Bowers of the Halifax McDonalds midget team was ranked first in January by HockeyProspect.com, just ahead of forward Maxime Comtois of the Chateauguay Grenadiers. However, the order may be muddled if Joseph Veleno of the Lac St-Louis Lions is granted exceptional status to enter the draft as a 15-year-old.
Saint John has picked first overall four times before, taking Alex Grant in 2005, Yann Sauve in 2006, Simon Despres in 2007 and Green last year.
