The Saint John Sea Dogs have added forward Joshua Roy to their rebuild plan, selecting the 15-year-old forward No. 1 on Saturday in the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League Draft.
Roy, five-foot-11, 180 pounds, produced 38 goals and a league-best 88 points in 42 games this past season with the Levis Chevaliers of the Quebec Midget triple-A Hockey League.
The St-Georges-de-Beauce, Que., native won four individual awards, including most outstanding player, while leading Levis to a league championship.
Players from the Quebec Midget triple-A Hockey League rounded out the top three picks.
The Val-d’Or Foreurs selected forward Justin Robidas — son of former NHL defenceman Stephan Robidas — from the Magog Cantonniers second overall and forward Zachary L’Hereux of the Chateauguay Grenadiers went to the Moncton Wildcats at three.
The @sjseadogs are thrilled to select Joshua Roy first overall in the 2019 #QMJHL Entry Draft. Welcome to the #PortCity Joshua! pic.twitter.com/fKNqw3P3A8
— Saint John Sea Dogs (@SJSeaDogs) June 8, 2019
The rebuilding Sea Dogs entered last season as one of the youngest teams in the entire Canadian Hockey League after drafting three skaters within the top 15 picks — defencemen William Villeneuve No. 2 and Jeremy Poirier No. 8 and forward Josh Lawrence No. 15.
Veteran goaltender Alex D’Orio was the only remaining skater from Saint John’s Memorial Cup run in 2016 to begin last year with the club, and he was traded in January to the Baie-Comeau Drakkar in January for a first-round pick in 2020.
Saint John went 13-49-6 last season, finishing second last in the 20-team QMJHL.
Slovakian forward Maxim Cajkovic, who was selected No. 1 by Saint John in the 2018 import draft, led the Sea Dogs with 22 goals and 46 points in 60 games.
The Gatineau Olympiques took forward Zachary Dean from the triple-A Toronto Nationals of the Greater Toronto Hockey League fourth overall, while Roy’s teammate, forward Olivier Nadeau, went to the Shawinigan Cataractes at No. 5.
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