Eagles open trade period with 10 deals

SYDNEY — The transformation of the Cape Breton Eagles roster began to play out on Saturday.

The Eagles completed 10 trades to open the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League trade period, prior to the start of the league’s entry draft on Monday.

Cape Breton opened the trade period by acquiring Cape Breton West Islanders captain and defenceman Ryan Hayes and a ninth-round pick in 2022, originally belonging to Chicoutimi, from the Acadie-Bathurst Titan in exchange for forwards Nicolas Houge and Blake PilgrimEdwards.

Hayes, 17, appeared in 21 regular-season games with the Islanders in 2021-22, recording three goals and eight points. He added two assists in 14 playoff games with the Port Hood-based under-18 major team.

Houge, 17, began the 202122 QMJHL season with the Eagles, appearing in 19 games and posting one assist. He later returned home to Quebec in December.

Pilgrim-Edwards, who will turn 17 years old on Thursday, dressed for the Steele Subaru Majors of the Nova Scotia Under-18 Major Hockey League last season, recording 11 goals and 32 points in 33 games.

Shortly after, the Eagles acquired 20-year-old forward Thomas Belgarde and a second-round pick in 2023, originally belonging to Drummondville, from the Titan in exchange for 17-year-old defenceman Emile Perron and a fifth-round pick in 2024.

Perron, the club’s eighth overall selection at the 2021 QMJHL Entry Draft, appeared in 54 games in his rookie season, recording one goal and three points with a -35 rating.

Minutes later, Cape Breton traded Belgarde and a secondround pick in 2022, originally belonging to Blainville-Boisbriand, to the Victoriaville Tigres for a first-round pick in 2022, originally belonging to Saint John, and a fifthround pick in 2024, originally belonging to Val-d’Or.

Belgarde played 69 games between Chicoutimi and Acadie-Bathurst last season. He had 21 goals and 59 points in 69 games.

Meanwhile, the team later acquired 20-year-old forward Samuel Johnson and 19-yearold forward Jordan Côté from the Rouyn-Noranda Huskies in exchange for a fourthround pick in 2022 and a seventh-round pick in 2024.

Johnson, a fourth-round pick by the Huskies in 2019, recorded 17 goals and 48 points in 57 games in 202122. As for Côté, a third-round pick in 2020, he had six goals and 12 points in 60 games during his first full season in the QMJHL.

Later, Cape Breton acquired 20-year-old forward Zachary Gravel, 17-year-old forward Jonah MacDonald, and a fourth-round pick in 2023 from the Quebec Remparts.

In exchange, the Eagles sent 17-year-old forward Lucas Canning, 19-year-old forward Charles Savoie, and a 12thround pick in 2022, originally belonging to Quebec, to the Remparts.

Gravel, an 11th-round selection by Gatineau in 2018, had 27 goals and 45 points in 66 games last season. MacDonald played for the Charlottetown Knights of the New Brunswick/Prince Edward Island Under-18 Major Hockey League, notching seven goals and 19 points in 18 games.

Canning, a second-round pick by Cape Breton in 2020, had two goals and four points in 43 games in 2021-22, while Savoie, who was acquired in the Connor Trenholm deal with Saint John at the Christmas trade period, had three goals and 10 points in 49 games between the Sea Dogs and Eagles.

In another trade, the Eagles sent 19-year-old defenceman Jacob Squires to the Charlottetown Islanders for a sixth-round pick in 2024. Squires is the brother of current Eagle Cam Squires.

Squires, a Charlottetown product, had four goals and 15 points with a -41 rating in 60 games in Sydney last year.

The roster overhaul continued with the Eagles sending 19-year-old forward Jack Campbell as well as a seventhround pick and an eighthround pick, both in 2024 and both originally belonging to Saint John, to the Sea Dogs.

In return, Cape Breton acquired 20-year-old forward Josh Lawrence, who earlier this week won a Memorial Cup with the Sea Dogs. Lawrence wouldn’t stay an Eagle for long.

Cape Breton then sent Lawrence and a third-round pick in 2023 to the BlainvilleBoisbriand Armada for 19-year-old forward Charles Boutin, a second-round pick in 2022, originally belonging to Saint John, and a firstround pick in 2024, originally belonging to Blainville-Boisbriand.

Boutin, a third-round pick by the Armada in 2019, posted seven goals and 35 points in 53 games with the Quebec-based team last season.

Lawrence, a first-round pick in 2018 by Saint John, recorded 31 goals and 101 points in 69 regular-season games. He had one assist in five playoff games.

Cape Breton also traded 17-year-old forward Matis Ouellet to the Val-d’Or Foreurs in exchange for a thirdround pick in 2022, originally belonging to Shawinigan.

Ouellet, acquired by the Eagles in a deal with Charlottetown for Dawson Stairs at the Christmas trade period, recorded three goals and 11 points in 55 games between the Islanders and Eagles last season.

In the final trade of the day, the Eagles acquired 19-year-old forward Julien Hébert from the Chicoutimi Saguenéens for a sixth-round pick in 2024.

Hébert, a third-round pick by Moncton in 2019, recorded nine goals and 27 points in 68 games last season.

In total, 37 trades were made across the league to open the QMJHL trade period on Saturday.