Cape Breton will enter next season with a high turnover, as only 13 players are eligible to return. The likes of Evgeny Svechnikov, Maxim Lazarev and captain Clark Bishop are likely to move on to pro hockey.

“It’s a matter of good planning,” said Screaming Eagles head coach and general manager Marc-André Dumont. “It’s important to plan ahead on a transition cycle and that’s where we’re at right now. We’re transitioning from one cycle to another and having two, first-round picks is really exciting. It has created a lot of enthusiasm among our scouting staff.”

The Screaming Eagles hockey brain trust has plenty of picks to work with for Saturday’s draft in Charlottetown. Along with two picks in the opening round, at No. 9 and No. 13, the team boasts a total of seven selections in the first four rounds.

Dumont said they expect to take the best player available in the opening round, and says the door is open for a trade.

“We’re not closing the door to any possible deal or movement,” he said. “As I’ve said, it’s got to make sense in where we’re at in the cycle from transitioning from one to the other, so if we can add some assets of young players that are promising, we can do it through trades or through the draft.”

In recent years, the Screaming Eagles have had a handful of first-round picks decide not to report. Last year, Shane Bowers of Herring Cove, N.S., was selected fourth overall by the Screaming Eagles, but instead played for the Waterloo Black Hawks of the United States Hockey League. Nicolas Roy, selected first overall in 2013, and Michael O’Leary of Halifax, the No. 14 pick in the 2014 draft, also decided not to show.

Dumont said many players enter the draft keeping their options open to play in the NCAA, or have their hearts set on committing to specific teams in the league, so it makes it difficult.

“We’ve proven that we’re not shy of drafting players that play the game of saying they want to keep their options open. We’re very comfortable with the program we have,” said Dumont, who noted a number of players the team has developed and moved on to the pro ranks.

Assistant GM and head scout Jacques Carriere said this year’s draft class is strong at each position and a lot of good players hail from Atlantic Canada.

The Screaming Eagles staff has conducted 50 in-person interviews and about 120 phone interviews with potential draft picks. Carriere and his team of six scouts have taken in about 2,000 games and put in thousands of hours of work leading into Saturday’s big day.

“The off-ice is pretty important. I think it takes a special person to be a Screaming Eagle and those are character traits that we try to figure out,” he said.

According to the league’s final central scouting list, Benoit-Olivier Groulx, a 6-0, 176-pound forward from Gatineau, is the top-ranked prospect. He’s followed by 6-1, 203-pound Cole Harbour defenceman Jared McIsaac at No. 2 and 5-9, 164-pound Lac St. Louis forward Gabriel Fortier, who rounds out the top three.

The top-ranked netminder is Olivier Rodrigue, at 6-0, 147 pounds, who played for Jonquiere midget ‘AAA’ in Quebec. He’s pegged at No. 4 overall. Another goaltender, Cape Breton West puckstopper Colten Ellis of River Denys, is the top-ranked Cape Breton player. He’s projected for the third round.

Screaming Eagles 2016 Picks

Round 1 – No. 9, No. 13

Round 2 – None

Round 3 – No. 43 (from Blainville-Boisbriand), No. 49

Round 4 – No. 59 (from Sherbrooke), No. 67, No. 68 (from Moncton)

Round 5 – None

Round 6 – No. 95 (from Sherbrooke)

Round 7 – No. 121

Round 8 – No. 139

Round 9 – No. 157

Round 10 – No. 175

Round 11 – No. 193

Round 12 – No. 211

Round 13 – No. 229

Round 14 – No. 247

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