It was quite a busy weekend on the trade front in the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League as Christmas approaches.
On Sunday alone, 26 players and 31 draft picks were moved in 18 deals.
The Halifax Mooseheads, who came within one win of capturing the Memorial Cup last season on home ice, were busy on Sunday, completing a pair of deals.
The trades saw the team move a pair of overage players in the process.
The team dealt defenceman Walter Flower to the Rimouski Oceanic for a second-round pick (originally Saint John’s) and a fourth round pick (originally belonging to Acadie-Bathurst), both in the 2020 draft.
The Mooseheads also dealt veteran Patrick Kyte to the Chicoutimi Sagueneens for a first-round pick in 2020.
The deal with Halifax wasn’t the lone deal of the day for Chicoutimi as the team was involved in a significant deal with the Quebec Remparts.
Chicoutimi dealt NHL draft eligible centre Theo Rochette to Quebec.
In return, the Sagueneens acquired goaltender Carmine-Anthony Pagliarulo from Quebec along with a trio of high picks, among them a pair of first rounders (in 2020, originally Rouyn-Noranda’s, and 2021, originally Chicoutimi’s) along with a second rounder in 2020 (originally Acadie-Bathurst’s).
Chicoutimi, 24-6-3-0 this season, would complete five deals on the day.
The team also managed to add another first round pick, acquiring Drummondville’s first pick in 2022 in a deal that send William Dufour to the Voltigeurs.
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Chicoutimi added some experience earlier in the week, sending a pair of first-round picks to Quebec for overage forward Felix Bibeau, a prospect of the New York Islanders.
Bibeau, who won a QMJHL title with the Rouyn-Noranda Huskies along with a Memorial Cup title, joined Quebec prior to this season and had 17 goals and 35 points in 31 games with the club.
Chicoutimi sent first-round picks in 2020 (originally Rouyn-Noranda’s) and 2021 to Quebec to complete the deal.
The 2020 first rounder was ultimately traded back to Chicoutimi in the deal involving Rochette and Pagliarulo.
The Sherbrooke Phoenix, the lone team in the league with a better record than Chicoutimi, completed a pair of deals on Sunday.
The team acquired veteran defenceman Xavier Bernard, a prospect of the New Jersey Devils, from the Charlottetown Islanders, in exchange for three draft picks, including a second-round pick in 2021 (originally Quebec’s), a third-round pick in 2020, and a seventh-rounder in 2020.
Sherbrook also sent overage defenceman Yann-Felix Lapointe to the Blainville-Boisbriand Armada along with a first-round pick in 2020, a second-round pick in 2022, and a third-round pick in 2022.
In return, the Phoenix acquired New York Islanders prospect Samuel Bolduc and a fourth-round pick in 2020.
ROAD TO RECOVERY FOR TYNAN
Niagara IceDogs goaltender Tucker Tynan is on the road to recovery after a scary injury late last week. The 17-year-old goaltender was cut by the skate of a London Knights player in a collision in his crease. The game was postponed, as were the IceDogs games against the Peterborough Petes and Ottawa 67’s over the weekend. On Friday, Tynan tweeted his appreciation for support he has received from the public and that he looked forward to “recovering and coming back even stronger and healthier than before.”
The IceDogs reported on Sunday that Tynan was up and moving on crutches.
REFEREES HONOURED
The Western Hockey League honoured linesman Sean Dufour on Sunday ahead of Sunday’s game between the Regina Pats and Winnipeg ICE. Dufour received the league’s Milestone Award, which goes to WHL players, coaches, trainers, officials and WHL Championship teams for their outstanding achievements.
A veteran of 16 seasons as a linesman, Dufour has worked over 400 games and skated in nine WHL conference final series and four league finals. Dufour also skated in the 2014 USPORTS men’s hockey final and the 2013 national Junior A championship. In a prepared statement, WHL commissioner Ron Robison said, “when you consider the level of commitment it takes to be an official in the WHL, Sean is most deserving to receive this prestigious award after 16 seasons in our league.”
Dufour was the second official to receive the award over the weekend after referee Adam Byblow was honoured on Friday night.
A 21-year veteran, including 16 as a referee, Byblow started his WHL career in 1998 and has since worked more than 650 games as well as nine conference championship series.
