Cape Breton Eagles 2024-25 Season Preview

The Eagles will look to surpass the 40 win mark, after just narrowly missing it last season.

Leading the way will be New Jersey Devils 2023 third rounder, right winger Cam Squires.

Squires, 19, led the Eagles last season with 72 points (33+39) across 66 games last year. After his big season, the Devils entrusted him with an entry-level contract.

Alongside Squires, left winger Cole Burbidge should remain a poignant scorer for the Eagles -- coming off of an impressive 57 point (14+43) season, himself. Joining him down the lineup are centerman Luke Patterson (28 in 68) and Lucas Romeo (31 in 64). 

Romeo is coming off of a 25 goal season, and scored 21 of his points (and 17 of his goals) in the 24 games since being dealt by the Charlottetown Islanders to the Eagles last season.

The Eagles have two hatchlings of note, including left winger Emile Ricard (12th in 2023) who netted 16 points (5+11) in 67 games last season and centerman Romain L'Italien (4th in 2024).

The forward group also includes a trio of overagers.

Left winger Jacob Newcombe netted 24 points (11+13) over 26 games last year, after missing the first half of the season with non-hodgkins lymphoma, a form of cancer. In the playoffs, he tallied 17 points (8+9) in just 14 games.

Centerman Olivier Houde is coming off of a 61 point (31+30) season with the Cape Breton.

The other overager up front is Noah Reinhart, who was recently acquired from the QMJHL championship winning Drummondville Voltigeurs. He netted 60 points (26+34) last season between the Saint John Sea Dogs and the Voltigeurs.

Reinhart was acquired after three Cape Breton Eagles players were involved in a multi-car accident earlier this month.

Overager Brayden Schmitt will likely be out for an extended period of time, so the team decided to add Reinhart to fill the slot in the meantime to help keep the team competitive.

Also involved were the aforementioned Lucas Romeo, who is attending and participating fully in the Boston Bruins rookie camp, and left winger Angelo Fullerton, who has yet to have played since the crash.

Schmitt should be a major piece of the Eagles d-corps once he returns, having scored 49 points (8+41) last season.

Although he's not the only defender of note.

The team also features former 2022 QMJHL first overall pick Tomas Lavoie. Lavoie was taken in the third round of the 2024 NHL Entry Draft by Utah after a 24 point (3+21) draft campaign.

The blueline also includes Xavier Daigle (24 in 68) and import Ales Zielinski (11 in 58) -- who was acquired this off-season from Moncton.

Between the pipes for the Eagles is import Jakub Milota. 

The Eagles entrusted the 6-foot-1 goaltender with the starting role after he posted a .905 over 33 games last season -- the highest save percentage among first year eligible goaltenders in the QMJHL. 

His play gave the Nashville Predators confidence in selecting him in the fourth round of the 2024 NHL draft, and gave the Eagles the confidence to move overage goaltender Nicholas Ruccia to Charlottetown.

Overall, the Eagles look good -- that's for sure.

There's just a few drawbacks to the team as it stands. 

1. They have four overagers and will need to cut or trade one once Schmitt returns.
2. The defense just doesn't have the dynamism you'd hope for in a top team -- especially if Schmitt is missing serious time.
3. They are relying on big seasons from younger players, and new additions

However this situation presents a lot of opportunities. The absense of Schmitt might lead to a new gear getting unlocked in the game of Tomas Lavoie -- for example. 

Plus, we could see guys like the rookie L'Italien and the sophomore Ricard become impact players.

RW Cam Squires