Salmon Arm Silverbacks defenceman Joaquim Lemay was selected by the Washington Capitals in the fourth round (119th overall) on day two of the NHL Entry Draft on Saturday.
Lemay came into the draft ranked as the 224th North American skater by NHL Central Scouting.
The 18-year-old from St-Pierre-les-Becquets, QC played his rookie year in the BCHL pod season and put up 10 assists in 15 contests with the Silverbacks.
Prior to joining Salmon Arm, Lemay played the 2019-20 season at Mount St. Charles Academy in Woonsocket, R.I. where he once again put up impressive offensive numbers, finishing his year with 26 points in 63 games.
In an interview prior to the draft, this is how Lemay described his own game and how it could translate to the pro level:
“I’m a two-way defenceman, I can breakout the puck either with a good pass or beat the pressure. I can make some good offensive plays too, but I’m responsible defensively. If you talk about pro hockey, I think I would bring the same thing that I can bring right now. I bring a lot of offence and tape-to-tape plays from our zone to go to the offensive zone.”
Lemay is the first player the Capitals have selected from the BCHL since they drafted former Burnaby Express defenceman Keith Seabrook in the second round in the 2006 draft.
If he ends up playing for the Capitals, he will join fellow notable BCHL alumni like Ryan Walter, Joe Murphy, Justin Schultz and many others.
Lemay is set to return to Salmon Arm in the fall and will eventually play for the University of Nebraska-Omaha when he makes the jump to college.
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On day two of the draft, a pair of players who played in the BCHL’s fall season were also drafted.
Ayrton Martino – Dallas Stars – 3rd Round (73rd overall)
Played with the Chilliwack Chiefs in the fall season and led the team in scoring with 10 points in eight games.
Jack Bar – Dallas Stars – 5th Round (138th overall)
Played with the Penticton Vees in the fall season and chipped in with seven points in 13 games.
