CHARLOTTETOWN, P.E.I. - The Charlottetown Islanders have traded their captain.
The Isles moved Pierre-Olivier (P.O.) Joseph to the Drummondville Voltigeurs on Sunday for a pair of defencemen and three high draft picks. The trade was announced Thursday.
Coming back are Xavier Bernard, a fourth-round pick of the New Jersey Devils in 2018, midget blue-liner William Trudeau, a second-round pick in 2019 as well as first- and second-round picks in 2021.
“There’s not enough that can be said about P.O. Joseph,” assistant general manager Guy Girouard said. “He’s such a great person, not to mention his hockey abilities.”
Joseph, 19, was selected in the first round of the 2017 NHL draft by the Arizona Coyotes and is expected to turn pro after this season.
“He’s been great to the organization,” Girouard said. “He came in with no big expectation as a fifth-round pick and just kept surprising everybody.”
Joseph, a six-foot-two, 168-pound, left-shot defenceman from Chambly, Que., has seven goals and 18 assists for 25 points in 27 games this season. He is well known for his charismatic smile and demeanour, his work ethic and leadership ability.
“He sets the tone in the dressing room,” Girouard said. “He’s a competitor. . . (and) his hockey IQ is off the charts.”
Girouard said trading veteran players like Joseph and assistant captain Keith Getson, who mean so much to the organization and community, is the tough part of the hockey business.
“We knew a couple of years ago, we’d have to, at some point in time, make some moves to recoup some draft picks and our time has come,” he said. “Just like Getsy, he’s done so much for the franchise, we wanted to make sure we move him to a place where he’s going to be comfortable and have a really, really good chance at winning the Memorial Cup, which is the ultimate prize in junior hockey,”
The Islanders are not calling the trading of Joseph, Getson and 19-year-old right-winger Derek Gentile a rebuild, preferring to call it a retool.
“This is good for P.O. and it’s going to be good for the Charlottetown Islanders,” Girouard said. “It’s going to make us competitive in the now and going to set us up to be competitive for the next few years.”
The Islanders could draft players with the picks or use the picks in order to get more immediate help, if they are in a position to contend, with some of its next wave of talented players.
The big piece coming back in the latest deal is Bernard.
The six-foot-three, 204-pound, left-shot defenceman will turn 19 on Jan. 6. He was taken 110th overall by the Devils at the 2018 NHL draft. The Voltigeurs selected him 12th overall at the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League draft in Charlottetown in 2016.
“We’re excited,” Girouard said. “He’s going to step right in and contribute right away.”
He has five goals and 11 assists for 16 points in 32 games.
Trudeau was taken in the 11th round (194th overall) in the 2018 draft. He is playing midget in Quebec this season and recently competed in the showcase in Chicoutimi, Que.
“He’s a kid our scouts have been tracking. They like his progress,” Girouard said. “He’s going to finish the year in midget, but we think he’s going to contend for a spot next year.”
