Charlottetown Islanders see depth as a strength as new season begins

The puck dropped for the Charlottetown Islanders 2019-20 season on Friday when they faced off against Moncton.

Though the Islanders lost 3-2 in overtime, coach Jim Hulton is confident in his team this season.

"I think one of our strengths of our team this year is our depth," he said. "We have four lines that can contribute — six and seven defencemen, two really quality goaltenders."

There will be some new faces on the Islanders this season, like underage goalie Jacob Goobie, Hulton said. Goobie was their first pick in this year's draft.

"Justin Gill was another high draft pick," he said. "Oscar Plandowski was a trade that we made in addition to a number of other first-year players that are going to make significant contributions."

With new players coming in, that means some players have moved on, including longtime leaders Pierre-Olivier Joseph and Keith Getson.

However, Hulton said he doesn't believe his team has any shortage of leadership.

"We are still feeling the positive effects of having guys like Joseph and Getson in our room for as long as we did," he said. "It is the next wave of leadership."

New leaders

Hulton is looking at defenceman Brendon Clavelle, left wing forward Brett Budgell and goalie Matt Welsh to be leaders this season.

"In fact, we think we have a stronger core of leaders with this group this season probably than any point we did last year," Hulton said.

Part of the beauty of junior hockey is to watch young players mature and learn from more experienced members on the roster, he said.

"We have been very fortunate in the past few seasons to have some quality leaders, so it is nice to see the next guys in line," he said.

Who's the captain now?

No captain has been selected. "I am a big believer in having our players vote," Hulton said.

Xavier Bernard, a draft pick of the New Jersey Devils in 2018, has not yet made it to P.E.I. to join the team. "Then all the players will be back. As of next week we will have a player vote and probably unveil the captains into next weekend."

Tough competition

The last two Memorial Cup champions came from the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League.

"This is my fifth season in Charlottetown and I think it's probably as close a race as we're going to see from top to bottom. A lot of quality in particular in the Maritime Division, which is nice for fans but gives coaches more grey hairs."

The Islanders play their second game of the regular season Saturday night at home against Halifax.

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