Despite being focused on the playoffs, the Alberni Valley Bulldogs are busy preparing for next season. Their first two player signings for 2025-26 are 2007-born forward Brendan DeFeo and 2006-born forward Joseph DeLaurentis.
DeFeo comes from the Long Island Gulls hockey program in Jericho, New York, and DeLaurentis from the New Jersey Rockets hockey program in Bridgewater Township, New Jersey.
DeFeo and DeLaurentis are the first of several signings the Bulldogs will make before next season. For this article, I will profile DeFeo and DeLaurentis. Before that, I will list the Bulldogs players departing after the 2024-25 season and write about a late-season addition.
Departing Bulldogs players
Bulldogs defender Caden Tremblay is committed to the University of Alaska-Anchorage for the 2025-26 season, while forward Brady McIsaac is off to Lindenwood University. Joining McIsaac at Lindenwood for 2025-26 is forward Dryden Kuramoto.
Also departing is Bulldogs forward Zeke Nicholson, who is committed to Robert Morris University for the 2025-26 season. Forward Cole Bishop will play at Tennessee State University next season, and goaltender Colin Winn will start his NCAA career at St. Lawrence University. Fellow netminder Ryder Shea will head to the University of Maine this fall.
Late-season additions
In March, the Bulldogs signed defender Matty MacDonald to their roster. Unlike DeFeo and DeLaurentis, MacDonald immediately joined the team.
Before heading to Alberni Valley, the Walpole, Massachusetts blueliner split the season between the Cape Cod Whalers 18U AAA squad and Thayer Academy. He joined a Bulldogs team that had lost several defenders to injury and made his debut during a Mar. 8 game against the Surrey Eagles. MacDonald only ended up playing three games for Alberni Valley during the regular season and didn’t appear in any playoff games.
In late March, the Bulldogs added defender Théo Lebrun. Like MacDonald, he immediately joined the Bulldogs roster.
A native of St-Pascal, Québec, Lebrun played U18 AAA hockey with the Collège Notre-Dame Albatros over the last two seasons. In 34 games this season, he notched one goal and five assists. The Charlottetown Islanders selected Lebrun in the eighth round of the 2024 Québec Maritimes Junior Hockey League Entry Draft.
DeFeo’s path to Port Alberni
DeFeo played minor hockey with the P.A.L. Junior Islanders 13U AAA team in 2020-21. The following season, the Commack, New York product joined the North Jersey Avalanche 14U AAA squad in the Atlantic Youth Hockey League.
In 2022, DeFeo registered with the Long Island Gulls Amateur Hockey Association. Over the next three seasons, he appeared with three different Gulls’ AAA teams.
DeFeo spent time with Long Island’s 15U, 16U, and 18U AAA teams. He also played two affiliate games for the Green Bay Gamblers of the United States Hockey League.
While playing for North Jersey in 2021-22, DeFeo posted 17 goals and 22 assists in 24 games. In 2024-25, he had four goals and three assists in eight games for the Long Island Gulls BEAST 18U team. DeFeo is committed to the University of Vermont for September 2026.
DeLaurentis’ journey to Port Alberni.
From 2020 to 2023, DeLaurentis played for the Westchester Express Tier 1 Youth Hockey Program. In 2020-21, he tallied 61 points in 56 games with the Express 14U AAA team. The following season with the Express 15U AAA team, DeLaurentis had 89 points in 68 games.
During the 2022-23 season, DeLaurentis was with the Westchester 16U AAA and posted 91 points in 96 games. That same season, he made his junior hockey debut with the Danbury Jr. Hat Tricks of the North American Hockey League. DeLaurentis didn’t get any points in three NAHL games.
A year ago, he played for the Long Island Gulls U18 AAA team, but only got into seven games. This past season, DeLaurentis played for the New Jersey Rockets 18U AAA team and finished with 65 points in 89 games. He is committed to Sacred Heart University for the 2026-27 NCAA Division I season.
What each player brings to Alberni Valley
Both DeFeo and DeLaurentis are noted scorers, and there’s no doubt Alberni Valley signed them to help the offence for next season’s team. DeFeo was the top points producer for the Gulls 18U team in the BEAST Tournment Series. DeLaurentis has been a prolific points producer wherever he plays.
DeFeo and DeLaurentis are the first players signed to the Bulldogs’ 2025-26 roster, and with the playoffs over for Alberni Valley, more signings will come in the next weeks and months.
