QUEBEC CITY P.Q. — A total of 33 players and 32 draft picks change hands at the QMJHL trading deadline on last Thursday January 7, 2010. Regardless of the sport involved, the trading deadline is always exciting for fans. They expect their team to make a move to improve their chance in the upcoming playoff. Some teams decide to make moves in reaction to other team movement, others decide to make moves to improve their future, preferring to take a step back before making two steps forward. Now that the deadline has passed, it will be interesting to see which team paid too much, compared to the one that will be successful in their run to represent the QMJHL at this year’s Memorial Cup. Let’s have a look at the latest trades made by QMJHL teams at the trading deadline. The Victoriaville Tigres and the Rimouski Oceanic opened the last day for trades to be allowed with the Tigres sending a left winger, who had been a fifth round pick in 2008 (78 overall) in Alexandre Tardif and a first round pick in 2010 to Rimouski. In return Victoriaville added offensive defenseman, Emmanuel Boudreau (14g-32a in 40 games). The Tigres made a key addition offensively on their defense. The former Rimouski fifth round selection (90th overall) in 2005 will certainly play a starring role on Tigres power play. Tardif is a 17 year old who will help the Oceanic this year as well as the next two-three years. Another interesting move was made between Cape Breton and Chicoutimi. The Screaming Eagles acquired left winger Jacob Lagace from Chicoutimi. The Sagueneens received in return left winger Eric Gelinas, a first round pick in 2010 and a second round pick in 2011 (previously belonging to Shawinigan). Cape Breton made another key addition that will help them tremendously on offence. Reacting to other teams movements in their division, the arrival of the Buffalo Sabres fifth round pick in 2008 will certainly play a key role for Mario Durocher’s team. For Chicoutimi, Gelinas is certainly an investment for the future that will be able to help them until the end of this year. The Gatineau Olympiques sent veteran defenseman Steven Delisle and a sixth round pick in 2010 to Rouyn-Noranda Huskies. In return the Olympiques received Huskies 3rd round pick in 2010, 2nd and 3rd round picks in 2011. This trade is certainly a good one for Gatineau’s future. On the other hand, it will be a costly trade for Rouyn-Noranda if the Huskies aren’t successful in the upcoming playoffs. Huskies fans are very happy to see their team make lot of moves this year putting all of their eggs in the same basket. The hope for fans is it won’t be too long before they get competitive team after this year. A minor move made by two teams was the Acadie Bathurst Titan sending Derek Famulare to Prince Edward Island Rocket, In return the Rocket sent a 7th round pick in 2010 (previously belonging to Lewiston). Another minor move involved the Acadie Bathurst acquiring 17 year old left winger Danny Chiasson, in return the Titan sent to Rimouski their 10th round pick in 2010. The Quebec Remparts sending to Rimouski a 7th round pick in return of left winger Nicholas Samoluk. The Remparts also sent their Captain Kelsey Tessier to the Moncton Wildcats. In return the Wildcats sent goaltender Louis Domingue and Matt Brown. In Tessier, the Wildcats get another offensive forward. Quebec settled their goaltending problem for next three years with Domingue on the roster, and in Matt Brown they get a forward who can play on their second line. Moncton, in discussions with the Montreal Junior, acquired offensive defenseman Alex Wall and a third round selection in 2011, sending forward Dillon Donnelly and the European first round pick. In Wall the Wildcats add another offensive defenseman to an already strong defensive unit. The Val-d’Or Foreurs made a move sending left winger Dylan C. Capstick to Prince Edward Island; in return the Rocket sent their fourth round selection in 2011. Shawinigan Cataractes and Rouyn-Noranda Huskies traded players and draft picks. Shawinigan sent left winger Antoine Quevillon and a 6th round pick in 2010 (previously belonging to Saint John). In return the Huskies sent another left winger Jordan Durand. The Chicoutimi Sagueneens sent forwards Mathieu Leduc and Yousseff Kabbaj to Val-d’Or, in return the Foreurs sent a second and fifth round pick (previously belonging to Chicoutimi) in 2010. Val-d’Or simply added depth to their organization for the next two years. Prince Edward Island and Halifax trade players. The Rocket sent forward Bradley MacDonald to the Mosseheads in return Halifax sent Guillaume Pelletier. With the acquisitions of Louis Domingue and Antoine Tardif, goaltender Peter Dalmas knew he will have to end his junior career elsewhere, therefore Quebec sent what was believed to be their number one goaltender in Quebec when he arrived last summer from Lewiston to Halifax. In return the Remparts received the Mosseheads 6th round pick in 2011. Losing confidence in Dalmas, the Remparts simply gave the former Colorado Avalanche draft pick the chance to end his career somewhere else. The Rimouski Oceanic and Rouyn-Noranda Huskies confirmed what people who followed QMJHL activities already knew for long time which was the trading of Jordan Caron and Patrice Cormier to Rouyn-Noranda. In return the Huskies sent Michael Beaudry, Alexandre Mallet, and two number one drafts picks in 2010 Huskies first round pick in 2011 and a second round pick in 2012. The trade was a major one for Rouyn-Noranda. Reunited with Philippe Cornet, Caron Cormier and Cornet already played for Rimouski in the past and will now try to work the same kind of magic they had in Rouyn-Norenda. Needing help on defense, Quebec acquired defenseman Jerome Cote from Rouyn-Noranda, in return the Huskies sent a 6th round pick in 2011. The Lewiston MAINEiacs sent Alexander Beaton to the Gatineau Olympiques and in return got the Olympiques 3rd round pick in 2010 and a 7th round pick in 2011. The Prince Edward Island sent forward Derek Larade to Cape Breton for the Screaming Eagles 6th round selection in 2011. The Quebec Remparts decided to let another important player go when they sent defenseman Samuel Groulx to Victoriaville. In return the Tigres sent defenseman Patrick Dore, left winger Olivier Hinse, and 2nd round pick in 2012. In Groulx, Quebec let a defenseman who played 22 minutes in game and is usually on the ice to kill penalties. He will be used mostly with defenseman Mikael Tam. Chicoutimi traded Matthew Bisonnette, who played only one game with the Sags before leaving the team because he refused to play in a francophone market (being an Anglophone himself) to Lewiston. In return the MAINEiacs sent a first, third, and fifth round draft picks in 2010. Bissonnette was previously acquired by Chicoutimi from Moncton. One the last trade of trading deadline the Montreal Junior sent Marc-Andre Levasseur to Chicoutimi, in return the Sagueneens sent a 3rd round pick in 2010 (previously belonging to Rouyn-Noranda). Contact the author at: serge.poulin@prohockeynews.com
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