Maine Hockey Journal

Several Mainers taken in QMJHL draft

The Quebec Major Junior Hockey League held its annual Entry Draft on Saturday in Charlottetown, Prince Edward Island which saw a slew of local ties hearing their name called.

Falmouth native Oliver Wahlstrom was selected in the fourth round by the Cape Breton Screaming Eagles. This past season he completed his second year at the famed prep school in Faribault, Minn., Shattuck-St. Mary’s, that has produced NHL stars like Sidney Crosby, Jonathan Toews, and Nathan MacKinnon.

With the prep school team, he put up 26 goals and 26 assists in 43 games. He also competed at the Youth Olympics in Lillehammer, Norway where he had three goals in four games for the USA.

Wahlstrom, 16, who committed to Maine as a seventh grader while at North Yarmouth Academy decommitted last July. A month later he committed to Harvard for the 2018-19 season.

He will spend the next two seasons with USA Hockey’s National Team Development Program, which houses a U-17 and U-18 team in Plymouth, Mich. The two teams play in the United States Hockey League, international tournaments and the U-18 plays college teams throughout the country.

The University of New England announced Friday they will be hosting the U-18 on Jan. 7, 2017.

With the teams needing to select two Americans, New England kids started to fly off the board in the later rounds.

The next local to go off the board was Bangor High School goalie Derek Fournier in the 13th round to the Saint John Sea Dogs. He helped the Rams to the Class A North semifinals where they lost to the eventual Class A Champions, the Lewiston High School Blue Devils. During the regular season, he had an 8-5-1 record with a 4.24 goals-against-average and .925 save percentage.

In the 14th round, 2018 Maine recruit Craig Needham was taken by the Charlottetown Islanders.

The 5-foot-10, 170-pound, 17-year-old forward from Arlington, Mass. had 14 goals and 10 assists in 24 games at Lawrence Academy this past season after an 18 goal, 10 assist sophomore campaign in 2014-15.

Also in the 14th round, the Shawinigan Cataractes selected York native Thomas Carr. The defenseman played for York High School and the Portland Jr. Pirates this past season.

All players keep their NCAA eligibility as long as they don’t sign a contract with a major junior team.

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