The Post-Championship Season

Junior Hockey can be cyclical. A championship season is almost always followed by a down year due to age outs, NHL deals and, now, NCAA opportunities. Some teams manage a good follow up year, while most go into rebuild mode. One of those options will play out in Chicoutimi following their Gilles-Courteau Cup Championship this past Spring. 

Until recent times, Chicoutimi would almost certainly have been primed for another run. A core of players were within their junior age eligibility. Of course, this is the modern era with CHL Players now eligible for the NCAA. This accounts for some of the Sagueneens biggest losses. 

Alex Huang is one of many CHLers opting for the NCAA

Nashville prospect Alex Huang, Anaheim Prospect Maxim Masse, Emile Guite, Mavrick Lachance and Nathan Lecompt have all taken their talents to the NCAA. For the past two seasons, Huang, Masse and Guite have been members of the team’s core. Masse may hurt the most this year while Haung and Guite, who each have two years of junior eligibility left, will hurt more in the long run.

Traditional age outs will impact the Sags on several fronts. Emmanuel Vermette (240 points in 5 seasons), who was part of the core, and defenseman Peteris Bulans will not be back. Also, late season acquisition Jordan Tourigny represents not only the age out, but the fall out. The Sags gave up solid stay-at-home defenseman Jonathan Prud’homme, who had 2 years of eligibility remaining, to get him. Prud’homme is only the tip of the iceberg when it comes to the fallout.

In traditional fashion, the Sags mortgaged the future to acquire high end players for the cup run. This off season saw the bill arrive. Washington prospect Maxim Schafer, LA prospect Liam Lefebvre and Ottawa prospect Lucas Beckman were traded to finalize previous trades  and/or recoup draft picks. Still, many of the picks they received were already spoken for, leaving the Sags without a selection until the 4th round of June’s draft. 

Veteran Chistophe Berthelot will be one of several who will need to fill the void for the Sags.

Despite the talent drain, not all is lost. Where the Sags have lost star power, they still retain depth. By all accounts they can still be called a young team. Whether it’s in-house talent like Emile Ricard, Alexis Desmarias and Christophe Berthelot who could form the new core, or the ability to trade for veteran power to fill the gaps, the Sags have options. 

Finally, there’s the traditional X Factor that won't be answered until after the season starts. Alexis Bernier (Seattle), and Thomas Lavoie (Utah) will start the season in camp with their  NHL teams. Both, however, would also count toward the team’s 20-year old roster slots, adding to the lack of certainty. 

Overall, there were a lot of subtractions from last season’s roster. In reality the team will be rebuilding rather than patching holes for a second run. Still, lots can change with additional trades and signings as camps get underway. The certainty is that the Sags come into the season as the champs and, until they’re out, they’re still the champs.