THE CANADIAN PRESS
QUEBEC — Centre Daniel Audette, son of former NHL forward Donald Audette, was selected first overall by the expansion Sherbrooke Phoenix at the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League draft on Saturday.
The five-foot-seven Daniel Audette was ranked first by the league’s scouts. The 15-year-old who was born in Buffalo, N.Y., had 25 goals and 35 assists last season in midget hockey for Esther-Blondin College.
His father was also a small scoring forward who amassed 260 goals in 735 games for Buffalo, Los Angeles, Atlanta, Dallas, Montreal and Florida in the NHL.
The Phoenix, whose ownership group includes former NHL goalie Jocelyn Thibault, began stocking their team by taking 28 players at an expansion draft this week, including forward Maximilien LeSieur of the Memorial Cup champion Shawinigan Cataractes.
The Prince Edward Island Rocket followed by taking left winger Alexis Pepin from Charles Lemoyne College second overall. The six-foot-one 192-pound Pepin had 40 points in 38 games last season.
The Cape Breton Screaming Eagles took forward Clark Bishop of St John’s Pennecomm third overall while the Gatineau Olympiques got defenceman Alexandre Carrier from the Antoine Girard team with the fourth pick and forward Kelly Kameron of Charlottetown with the 18th and last pick of the first round.
The Baie-Comeau Drakkar used the first of their three first round selections to take defenceman Loik Leveille fifth overall. They got forward Gabryel Paquin-Boudreau with the 10th pick and defenceman Alexis Vanier 13th.
The Rouyn-Noranda Huskies picked forward Francis Perrin sixth overall and used the 14th pick to take defenceman Cody Dnaghey from the St. John’s midget club.
Forward Nicolas Aube-Kubel went seventh overall to the Val D’or Foreurs, who also took forward Anthony Richard.
The league champion Saint John Sea Dogs also had two picks, selecting forward Matthew Highmove eighth overall and defenceman Olivier Leblanc 11th.
The Rimouski Oceanic got forward Nicolas Hebert 12th overall, the Halifax Mooseheads took Boston Junior Bruins forward John Eichel 15th and the Blainville-Boisbriand Armada got defenceman Julien Bahl 17th.
