Moncton Wildcats
2011-2012 Record - 68G-30W-31L-7OT-67P
Jaskin-Saulnier-Saulnier
Veilleux-Barbashev-Lalonde
Penny-Robichaud-Johnston
Tremaine-Hodge-Howe
Stephans/Deruelle
Downe-Melindy
Racine-Emond
Sweeney-Roussy
Wood/McGurty
Dubeau
Thibeau
Top 5 Scorers 2011-2012
Alex Saulnier 58G-31g-52a-83p
Allain Saulnier 66G-30g-49a-79p
Hrivik 54G-29g-41a-70p
Delisle-Houde 63G-15g-29a-44p
MacAusland 51G-14g-16a-30p
Euros - Ivan Barbashev and Dmitri Jaskin
Overagers - Alex Saulnier, Allain Saulnier and Patrick Downe
Additions - Alex Dubeau, Jonathan Racine, Yannick Veilleux, Ivan Barbashev and Dmitri Jaskin
Losses - Jack Flinn, Charles Johnson, Patrick Delisle-Houde, Devon MacAusland, Marek Hrivik, Roman Will and Scott Trask.
The Moncton Wildcats look much better heading into 2012-2013 than they did last season, adding some premium talent through a blockbuster trade with Shawinigan and the import draft. As a follow up of the Brandon Gormley trade, Shawinigan sent starting goaltender Alex Dubeau, top-4 defenceman Jonathan Racine and scoring winger Yannick Veilleux to the Wildcats in exchange for a bevy of picks that included Shawinigans 1st import draft pick in 2013. The Wildcats then packaged together another load of picks to send to newly founded QMJHL franchise Sherbrooke in exchange for their #1 overall pick in the import draft, where selected Ivan Barbashev. They then used their own pick on St. Louis Blues 2nd round pick Dmitri Jaskin, who has been playing in the top mens league in the Czech Republic the last two years. These five players added over the the off-season will all play big roles for the team next year, really helping Monctons chances of competing in this years strong Maritime division.
For the Wildcats, the forward position will have no trouble filling the net. The Saulnier twins will return as overagers. The twins carried the teams offence last year, and will now have more secondary scoring help with Veilleux, Jaskin, Lalonde and Barbashev joining them in the top 6. The Wildcats bottom 6 leaves something to be desired however, as most of them are energy players and are unlikely to chip in much offence.
The Wildcats have a log jam going on the back end this year, with up to 8 defencemen that could play a regular Q shift in their system. This is after trading away Charles Johnston who was solid for them last year. However, the Wildcats top 4 is quite clear in Patrick Downe, James Melindy, Jonathan Racine and Danick Emond, which is one of the stronger top four groupings in their division.
In nets the Wildcats sustained a huge loss when Roman Will announced he will not be returning. Will was arguably the best goaltender in the league last year, and carried a mediocre Moncton team to flirting with .500 last year. The Wildcats were certainly expecting this when acquiring Alex Dubeau from Shawinigan who will be their clear cut starter this year. Dubeau went 25-9-2 on the Memorial Cup hosts last year and boasted a 2.56 GAA and a .904 SV%. Backing up Dubeau will be Brandon Thibeau, played 7 games with a 1-6 record with the 'Cats last year.
The Wildcats walk into this year absolutely ready to contend, with a top-heavy offence and a deep stable of steady defencemen. The only question seems to be how much they can improve on last season. The Wildcats certainly have the talent to keep up with the Halifax Mooseheads, and expect them to be coached well by Danny Flynn.
Burning question - How quickly can the new face Wildcats create chemistry to compete?
Prediction - 2nd in Maritime division, 5th in QMJHL
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