The Charlottetown Islanders acquired defenceman Will Thompson, 17, from the Saint John Sea Dogs for a first-round pick in 2015 on Friday.
And Thompson was as startled as anyone.
“Kind of surprised. I thought I had a pretty good year, had a few ups and downs. I was hurt for about a month,” said Thompson on Friday in a phone interview while heading to the Islanders’ pre-season game in Moncton “My parents were surprised, too, but it’s good to get a fresh start. I’m excited to get things going.”
Thompson, Saint John’s first-round pick (17th overall) in 2013, had three goals, 10 points and a minus-18 ratio in 41 Quebec Major Junior Hockey League games last season.
He didn’t play Friday and likely won’t play in today's pre-season game versus the Acadie-Bathurst Titan in Pownal (3 p.m.), but will be at training camp on Monday.
“We are very excited to be able to add another young quality defenceman to our defensive core,” said Islanders general manager Grant Sonier. “To have success in this league it is imperative to have a strong defensive unit. We feel Thompson is ready to take his game to the next level and by doing so he will add depth to our team defence.”
The six-foot, 178-pound Fredericton, N.B., native, joins 12 other d-men at the Isles training camp and gives the QMJHL squad four first-round picks from 2013.
The others are David Henley (Val-d’Or, eighth overall), Daniel Sprong (13th) and Alexandre Goulet (19th).
Charlottetown can choose which first-round pick it sends as it has its own and Gatineau’s from last season’s Alexis Pepin deal.
On the web at www.charlottetownislanders.com.
Wildcats 5, Charlottetown 2
Two power-play goals late the second period propelled the host Moncton Wildcats to a 5-2 win over the Charlottetown Islanders in Quebec Major Junior Hockey League pre-season action.
Moncton's Éric Léger scored one of his three goals in the game in the decisive stretch. Shayne Dominie had the second marker and the eventual game-winning goal.
Benji Curtis had the other Wildcats goal.
Keith Getson and Curtis Scales netted the Charlottetown goals. Assists went to Mathieu Jones, Andrew Smith, Samuel Jutris and David Henley.
Moncton outshot Charlottetown 40-20 and went 4-for-12 on the power play.
Charlottetown was 0-for-3 with the extra man.
Logan Cooke and Daryl MacCallum shared time in the Isles goal. Hugo
Talbot-Tassi and Sébastien Dupré were in the Wildcats net.
Charlottetown hosts the Acadie-Bathurst Titan today at 3 p.m. in Pownal.
