Questions about the Halifax Mooseheads' plans for the rest of the season will finally be answered in the coming weeks, perhaps as early as Sunday.
The QMJHL trade period opens that day and it's standard practice for teams to have deals ready to announce. Mooseheads general manager Cam Russell has been tight-lipped to date but something will have to give soon.
"Out of respect for the players, we don't want to make any comments about the trade period until it opens," Russell said on Thursday.
On paper, it seems obvious the logical path is for the Mooseheads to trade away their veterans to kickstart a rebuild. They don't have any high draft picks in 2020 and are also without a first-rounder in 2021. And since they also didn't make a pick until the fourth round this past year, there aren't really any blue-chippers coming up in their system. One way or another they need to add some fresh building blocks to avoid bottoming out in 2020-21.
With elite graduating players Jared McIsaac, Bo Groulx, Raphael Lavoie, Alexis Gravel, Patty Kyte and Maxim Trepanier attracting interest from contenders around the league, the Mooseheads could address their shortage of draft picks, while also acquiring some young talent to replace them when they're gone. Otherwise, those players will all move on at the end of the season and leave gaping holes in the roster.
Lavoie, McIsaac and Groulx are all at Canada's world junior team selection camp. There are rules that prevent world junior players from being traded before the end of the tournament so those three guys could technically be in limbo until early January if they make Team Canada.
If they do go to the world juniors, Russell could agree to deals now and then announce them when the freeze is lifted. That is standard practice.
"I try not to think about it," Lavoie said. "My job's to push the puck on the ice. I'll leave Cam's job to Cam."
Of all of those core veterans, only Trepanier has been traded during his QMJHL career and both times were around Christmas. The Rimouski Oceanic sent him to the Gatineau Olympiques for a first-round pick on Dec. 30 in 2017 and the Olympiques then shipped him to Halifax last Dec. 27 for William Dagenais and a first-rounder.
"I would be lying if I told you we're not thinking about it," said Trepanier, who is fifth in the QMJHL with 22 goals and is on a league-best 16-game points streak. "For sure we're trying the best we can not to think about it but we have had some chit chat here and there with each other."
McIsaac (Detroit Red Wings), Groulx (Anaheim Ducks), Lavoie (Edmonton Oilers) and Gravel (Chicago Blackhawks) are all drafted NHL prospects who will be playing pro next year, while Kyte, Trepanier and defenceman Walter Flower are overagers whose junior eligibility will run out at the end of the season. All of those players also have significant playoff experience after going to last year's QMJHL final and Memorial Cup championship game. That is a valued intangible for teams trying to win it all.
Lavoie (44 points), Trepanier (42 points) and Groulx (41 points) also account for a huge proportion of the Mooseheads' production so they would leave a huge scoring void for the rest of the season if they are dealt. The next highest scorer on the team is defenceman Justin Barron, who has 17 points but is out indefinitely with a blood clot.
Kyte and Flower handle heavy responsibilities on defence but Halifax actually has good depth at that position and backup goalie Cole McLaren has already proven he is good enough to be a starter anywhere in the league, so the team is in good shape there as well.
The Mooseheads (15-13-2-1) host the Charlottetown Islanders on Friday and then wrap up their first half on the road on Saturday against the Saint John Sea Dogs.
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