Sunday, August 28, 2016

Mathieu among latest camp cuts

Olivier Mathieu, Saint John’s top pick in the 2016 QMJHL Entry Draft, was among the latest round of Sea Dogs training camp cuts.

The Sea Dogs released Mathieu, forward Ben Reid and defenceman Devan Newhook from their training camp roster following Sunday’s 7-3 pre-season win over the Acadie-Bathurst Titan.

The moves leave 30 players on the team’s camp roster - 18 forwards, nine defencemen and three goaltenders.

Mathieu had a fairly solid camp, recording three goals and an assist in five pre-season games. But the 16-year-old likely got caught up in the numbers game – there simply isn’t room for him to get ice time on this team at the moment.

Selected 11th overall in this summer’s draft, Mathieu had 23 goals and 27 assists in 47 games with the Quebec Midget AAA Hockey League’s Magog Cantonniers last year.

The Sea Dogs cutting first round picks is nothing new. Last season, the team sent first rounders Cedric Pare and Alex D’Orio back to AAA to develop for the year.

Saint John’s next pre-season game is on Friday, Sept. 9 against the Charlottetown Islanders.

Photo vis John Moore Twitter

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