The 19-year-old forward was on the CBJ radar because of an intriguing mix of skills. He’s got size at 6-1, 204 pounds, and he has enough skill that he was the No. 2 overall pick of the QMJHL draft in 2021 after an excellent season at noted Minnesota prep powerhouse Shattuck St. Mary’s.
He posted a career-high 24 goals and 41 points in 2022-23 with Drummondville, but this season saw a midseason trade in which he went from the Voltigeurs to Saint John. Combined between the teams, he posted a 17-15-32 line in 65 games going into the QMJHL playoffs, as Saint John actually takes on his former team in Drummondville to start things off.
“I think I’m a big power forward who likes to score goals, likes to play a hard, physical game,” he said. “I think that’s a big part of who I am as a player now, my work ethic and my style of play, hunting the puck and body checks and things like that. I’m an energy player. I think I can shoot the puck really well, and I have a good set of hands on me where I can find the openings on the ice with the puck.”
Hockey is in his blood, too, growing up as the son of longtime college coach and former ECHL player Brad Peddle. The elder Peddle has spent almost two decades leading the program at St. Francis Xavier in Antigonish, Nova Scotia, a city of about 5,000 people on the northern coast of the Maritime province.
“I live in a small town, Antigonish,” he said. “My father has a background with hockey. He’s been a coach at St. Francis Xavier for a while now. So when I was younger, they knew I was gonna get into hockey regardless with him coaching and stuff. Just growing up in a small hockey town where everything revolves around St. Francis Xavier and the hockey there, that’s just where I found a passion for the game at a young age. It just grew on me ever since.”
Listen to the entire episode of the Pipeline Podcast presented by Ruoff Mortgage above.
Monsters Hit the Home Stretch
There’s good news and bad news for the Cleveland Monsters, the AHL affiliate of the Blue Jackets, with just 10 games left in the schedule.
The good news is that the Monsters remain in second place in the AHL North Division, just two points behind Syracuse for the top spot and solidly in possession of a playoff berth.
The bad news is that half of the squad is currently with the Blue Jackets, as a stunning bevy of injuries over the past few weeks have left the NHL squad searching for reinforcements.
As of this writing, five of Cleveland’s top 10 scorers are with the Jackets, and while the Monsters don’t want to use that as an excuse, it does help explain why the team has dropped three in a row and five of seven heading into tonight’s game at Grand Rapids.
The schedule also didn’t do Cleveland any favors this past weekend as defending Calder Cup champion and Atlantic Division leader Hershey came to the Forest City. The Bears improved to 46-11-0-5 on the year by sweeping the pair of contests, taking a 6-2 win Friday and a 4-0 victory Saturday.
The return of all-time leading scorer Trey Fix-Wolansky should boost Cleveland (35-21-3-3) down the stretch, as the Monsters return home Saturday to take on Rochester after tonight’s game in Michigan.
From there, Cleveland faces eight games in April, with six of them on the road. The lone home series left comes April 11 and 13 as Laval comes to town.
It’s Tournament Time
While the eyes of much of the sports world are on the annual March Madness basketball tournaments, things are equally crazy in the world of college hockey, and the NCAA tournament begins this weekend with regional play.
Four of the 16 teams – three of which feature Blue Jackets prospects – will win both of their games this weekend to survive and advance to the Frozen Four, which will take place in St. Paul, Minn.
There’s a CBJ prospect on the No. 1 overall seed in the tournament, Hockey East champion Boston College. The Eagles are an impressive 31-5-1 on the year and have won 12 in a row since a Beanpot semifinal loss to rival Boston University, with defenseman Aidan Hreschuk helping along the way. The 2021 third-round draft pick has a 2-13-15 line and team-best 79 shot blocks in 37 games in his junior season. The Eagles begin the tournament by taking on Michigan Tech on Friday in Providence, R.I.
Wisconsin has earned a No. 2 seed in the same regional as BC and will open play Friday against defending NCAA champion Quinnipiac in Providence. The Badgers boast CBJ third-round pick William Whitelaw, and the freshman forward has posted a 10-7-17 line in 36 games in his opening season of college hockey. The Badgers are 26-11-2 on the season but were upset by Ohio State in the opening round of the Big Ten tournament.
Then there’s Michigan, which is led by Big Ten player of the year Gavin Brindley. The 2023 second-round pick of the Blue Jackets has filled up the stat sheet, posting a 24-27-51 line that leaves him tied for fifth in the NCAA in goals and ninth in points. The sophomore wing has been even better down the stretch, posting a 9-12-21 line in his last 13 games.
The Wolverines lost the Big Ten title game last weekend to Michigan State and are 21-14-3 on the season. They will begin play Friday as the third seed in a star-studded matchup with second-seeded North Dakota in Maryland Heights, Mo.
Providence College fell just short of the NCAA field, ending the season of defenseman Guillaume Richard, a 2021 fourth-round pick of the Jackets. Richard’s junior year finishes with a career-high 18 points (three goals, 15 assists) in 35 games.
CHL Hits Playoffs, Too
North of the border, the Canadian Hockey League squads – those in the Ontario Hockey League, Quebec Maritimes Junior Hockey League and Western Hockey League – have hit playoff time.
Regular seasons ended over the weekend, and the Blue Jackets have had some standout performers on the campaign.
We’ll start in the OHL, where Ottawa forward Luca Pinelli (2023 fourth-round pick) finished third in the league with 48 goals on the season. The sniper finished strong with goals in five of the 67s last six games, giving him a 48-34-82 line on the campaign. Ottawa finished sixth in the Eastern Conference and will take on third-seeded Brantford in the opening round.
Meanwhile, in the Western Conference, there are CBJ signees on the top two teams in overall regular season champion London (forward Max McCue) and second-place Saginaw (goalie Nolan Lalonde).
McCue, signed by the Jackets earlier in March, finished the regular season with a full stat sheet including a 27-34-61 line in 62 games to go with 110 penalty minutes (10th in the league) and eight power-play goals. The Knights begin the postseason by taking on eighth-seeded Flint.
Saginaw, meanwhile, has a formidable goalie tandem in Lalonde and Andrew Oke. Lalonde played in 32 games this season with the Spirit after an early-season trade and went 21-6-1 in net with a 3.16 GAA and .874 save percentage. Lalonde had a 16-game winning streak earlier this season and won four of five appearances after that run was snapped. The Spirit are the No. 2 seed in the West and take on seventh-seeded Owen Sound to begin the playoffs.
Out in the WHL, CBJ draft picks Denton Mateychuk (2022 first round) and Martin Rysavy (2021 seventh round) lifted Moose Jaw to a third-place finish in the Eastern Conference. A first-team all-division choice, Mateychuk dominated this year from the blue line, posting a 17-58-75 line in 52 games to place third in scoring among league defensemen. Perhaps most impressive, he had the same number of three-plus-point games (eight) as zero-point contests.
Rysavy, meanwhile, has had a career season as an overager, notching a 25-19-44 line in 63 games. The Warriors begin the postseason by taking on sixth-seeded Brandon.
Outside of Peddle, the other CBJ prospect in the Q is Jordan Dumais, last season’s league scoring leader who hasn’t played for Halifax since December. First, he left the team to play for Canada’s World Juniors squad, then he underwent surgery on an abdominal injury that kept him out for the remainder of the regular season.
Dumais is believed to be close to a return, which would be a boon to a Halifax team that won its division and finished second in the Eastern Conference. The Mooseheads open with a series against seventh-seeded Acadie-Bathurst, and the return of Dumais – who had 16-31-47 in just 21 regular-season games in the fall – could help the team’s title push.
Keskinen’s Solid Season
Overseas, there’s one CBJ draft pick left playing senior division playoff hockey, and that’s 2023 seventh-round pick Oiva Keskinen. The 20-year-old center had a solid first season for Finnish regular-season champ Tappara, posting a 7-20-27 line in 54 games and also competing on Finland’s World Juniors squad. Tappara is currently in the Liiga playoffs and is knotted in a 2-2 series against TPS in the quarterfinals.
