SUMMERSIDE, P.E.I. —
Carson MacKinnon is leaving the only junior hockey team he has ever known.
The Rimouski Oceanic dealt the Summerside native to the Gatineau Olympiques Friday for a second-round pick in 2020 and a fourth-rounder in today’s Quebec Major Junior Hockey League (QMJHL) draft.
“It’s a city and an organization that I’ll forever consider a home for me,” MacKinnon said of Rimouski. “It’s definitely a special place for me, but at the end of the day I know it’s a business.”
While disappointed to leave Rimouski, Que., after four years of wearing the Oceanic jersey, he is looking forward to a fresh start with an organization steeped in history.
“I can’t be more (happier) to be joining Gatineau.”
MacKinnon, who turns 20 on Aug. 20, had 16 goals and 30 assists for 46 points in 68 games this season – the best year of his four-year QMJHL career. The six-foot-one, 172-pound left-winger added three goals and two assists in 13 playoff games.
The Oceanic finished the 2019 playoffs with 10 19-year-old players. Each team can only dress three 20-year-olds or overage players.
“We knew that there was going to be some trades made, we just weren’t aware who it would be,” MacKinnon said.
The deal will reunite MacKinnon with Mathieu Bizier. The two were linemates for about 1 ½ years in Rimouski before Bizier was dealt to the Olympiques in December. MacKinnon also knows Charlottetown defenceman Chris McQuaid and former Islanders forward Matthew Grouchy.
The Olympiques traded for Grouchy on Friday to fill another of its three overage spots.
The Labrador City, N.L., native, who turns 20 in November, had 14 goals and 33 assists for 47 points in 61 games last season. He added six points in seven playoff games.
The Islanders traded Grouchy and Gregor MacLeod to Quebec in January 2018 for Derek Gentile and a draft pick, which was subsequently flipped to Shawinigan for Cameron Askew.
Gatineau sent overage defenceman Darien Kielb, a Hamilton, Ont., native, and a draft pick to Quebec in return for Grouchy an draft picks. Kielb, who started his QMJHL career with the Remparts in 2016-17, amassed 32 points and 102 penalty minutes in 68 games last season.
MacKinnon also trains with Stratford native Zack MacEwen, who had his breakthrough junior season as an overage player in Gatineau in 2016-17. He has heard a lot of great things about the coaching and training staff and is looking forward to playing for the Olympiques.
“This is the biggest year of hockey that I’ve had so far in my life,” he said. “I’m just looking forward to having a good summer and finish my last junior season on the right note.”
MacKinnon’s older brother Ryan played three seasons with the Oceanic before coming back to the Prince Edward Island to captain the Charlottetown Islanders in 2014-15. The UPEI Panthers graduate played 68 games this season for the Worcester Rails of the ECHL.
Related links:
• Patience pays off for Summerside’s Carson MacKinnon
• MacKinnon helping Oceanic contend in third QMJHL season
• Carson MacKinnon excited about the possibilities