Mooseheads brass look back on a wild QMJHL entry draft weekend
Posted Jun 8, 2026 10:44:17 AM.
Last Updated Jun 8, 2026 12:37:58 PM.
The Halifax Mooseheads made some bold moves at the QMJHL’s entry draft over the weekend, including trading away their top pick.
It began Friday at Scotiabank Centre in Halifax, where Mooseheads management traded the number three overall pick, along with two current players and a second-round draft pick next year, for a high-scoring forward in 19-year-old Mateo Nobert from the Blainville-Boisbriand Armada.
A third-round NHL pick for the Vegas Golden Knights and a top centre, it was an ambitious move that shows the herd is committed to winning next year.
“It’s a good statement to our kids coming back,” says assistant general manager Allie MacDonald, adding forward Amelio Santini and goalie Nick Cirka were among the players traded in exchange. “But it is also a big step forward in the fact that we now have a bona fide goal-scorer right there.”
MacDonald also says the move was easier knowing the Mooseheads had the seventh pick upcoming, which went to Quebec native, Emrik Menard, a highly competitive player that he says likely would’ve been ranked higher had he not spent much of last season injured.
“The injury doesn’t bother me a lot,” notes MacDonald, adding that Menard’s medical report cleared him back in May. “Will he be a little rusty at the beginning? I think so, but like I say, when you bring in a 16-year-old, you’re not going to push him hard anyway.”
Among the Mooseheads’ other picks is 16-year old Jack Cameron from Stellarton, who was chosen in the second round, 20th overall.
“He’s a very smart, intelligent defenseman,” says MacDonald. “If you walked into the rink not knowing who was on the ice, he wouldn’t be the guy who jumped out at you but as you watch him, just the way he thinks the game and plays the game, (his) decisions are well-thought out and very, very intelligent.”
