The CHL held its annual import draft today, where teams from across the Canadian junior leagues get to select the rights of players around the world. Often these are recently drafted prospects, or those seen to have good chances at next year’s draft. Being selected has no guarantee that the player will actually ever suit up for the team, as Filip Chytil proved in 2017. Chytil was selected seventh-overall by the North Bay Battalion, but ended up spending the year with the New York Rangers and Hartford Wolf Pack after impressing in his first training camp.
There are clear benefits from picking at the top of the draft though, as the Sudbury Wolves found out last season. Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen was the third-overall selection, and ended up winning the Red Tilson trophy as the OHL’s Most Outstanding Player. This year saw Finnish-born Kasper Puutio go first to the Swift Current Broncos after being promoted to the U20 Finnish junior league last season even at the age of 16. Puutio is a right-handed defenseman eligible for the 2020 NHL Entry Draft. Teams are only allowed a certain number of import players, which leads to some passing on their selections even in the early part of the draft. Check out last year’s draft to see some familiar names.
The results will be updated below as picks are made:
Round 1
1. Swift Current – Kasper Puutio (D, Finland)
2. Kingston – Martin Chromiak (RW, Slovakia)
3. Acadie-Bathurst – Noah Delemont (D, Switzerland)
4. Winnipeg – Michal Teply (LW, Czech Republic)
5. Flint – Yevgeni Oksentyuk (RW, Belarus)
6. Saint John – Joona Lehmus (D, Finland)
7. Regina – Danil Gushchin (RW, Russia)
8. Erie – Marat Khusnutdinov (C, Russia)
9. Shawinigan – Vasily Ponomarev (F, Russia)
10. Prince George – Filip Koffer (RW, Czech Republic)
11. Barrie – Arturs Silovs (G, Latvia)
12. Gatineau – Yevgeni Kashnikov (D, Russia)
13. Kelowna – Pavel Novak (RW, Czech Republic)
14. Windsor – Ruben Rafkin (D, Finland)
15. Blainville-Boisbriand – Maxim Bykov (C, Russia)
16. Kamloops – Inaki Baragano (D, Switzerland)
17. Sarnia – Eric Hjorth (D, Sweden)
18. Val-d’Or – Rudolfs Polcs (F, Latvia)
19. Seattle – Tim Stutzle (RW, Germany)
20. Hamilton – Jan Mysak (C, Czech Republic)
21. Victoriaville – PASS
22. Brandon – Marcus Kallionkieli (LW, Finland)
23. North Bay – Martin Hugo Has (D, Czech Republic)
24. Quebec – Yu Sato (F, Japan)
25. Red Deer – Christoffer Sedoff (D, Finland)
26. Owen Sound – Stepan Machacek (F, Czech Republic)
27. Sherbrooke 0 Samuel Hlavaj (G, Slovakia)
28. Victoria – Keanu Derungs (C, Switzerland)
29. Peterborough – David Maier (D, Austria)
30. Moncton – Axel Andersson (D, Sweden)
31. Tri-City – Jan Cikhart (LW, Czech Republic)
32. Mississauga – Ole Julian Holm (D, Norway)
33. Chicoutimi – Harijs Brants (D, Latvia)
34. Medicine Hat – Jonathan Brinkman Andersen (LW, Denmark)
35. Kitchener – Villi Ottavainen (D, Finland)
36. Cape Breton – Ivan Ivan (F, Czech Republic)
37. Calgary – Jonas Peterek (LW, Czech Republic)
38. Guelph – Andrei Bakanov (RW, Russia)
39. Charlottetown – Gaetan Jobin (F, Switzerland)
40. Portland – Simon Knak (RW, Switzerland)
41. Sudbury – Frederik Dichow (G, Denmark)
42. Rimouski – Adam Raska (RW, Czech Republic)
43. Spokane – Lukas Parik (G, Czech Republic)
44. Oshawa – Oliver Suni (F, Finland)
45. Baie-Comeau – Valentin Demchenko (F, Belarus)
46. Moose Jaw – Jesper Wallstedt (G, Sweden)
47. Niagara – Giancarlo Chanton (D, Switzerland)
48. Halifax – Senna Peeters (F, Belgium)
49. Lethbridge – Oliver Okuliar (LW, Slovakia)
50. Sault Ste. Marie – Nick Malik (G, Czech Republic)
51. Drummondville – Thimo Nickl (D, Austria)
52. Edmonton – Jesse Seppala (LW, Finland)
53. Saginaw – Ilya Solovyov (D, Belarus)
54. Rouyn-Noranda – Oleksii Myklukha (C, Slovakia)
55. Saskatoon – Libor Zabransky (D, Czech Republic)
56. London – Kirill Steklov (D, Russia)
57. Everett – Michal Gut (C, Czech Republic)
58. Ottawa – PASS
59. Vancouver – Samuel Knazko (D, Slovakia)
60. Prince Albert – Ivan Kechkin (F, Russia)
Round 2
61. Swift Current – PASS
62. Kingston – Vitali Pinchuk (F, Belarus)
63. Acadie-Bathurst – PASS
64. Winnipeg – Nino Kinder (LW, Germany)
65. Flint – PASS
66. Saint John – PASS
67. Regina – PASS
68. Erie – PASS
69. Shawinigan – PASS
70. Prince George – PASS
71. Barrie – John Jason Peterka (C, Germany)
72. Gatineau – PASS
73. Kelowa – Daniil Gutik (RW, Russia)
74. Windsor – PASS
75. Blainville-Boisbriand – PASS
76. Kamlooops – PASS
77. Sarnia – Marek Berka (LW, Czech Republic)
78. Val-d’Or – Alexander Mirzabalayev (F, Russia)
79. Seattle – PASS
80. Hamilton – PASS
81. Victoriaville – PASS
82. Brandon – Vladislav Firstov (LW, Russia)
83. North Bay – Niki Korpialho (LW, Finland)
84. Quebec – PASS
85. Red Deer – PASS
86. Owen Sound – Julian Straub (RW, Germany)
87. Sherbrooke – PASS
88. Victoria – PASS
89. Peterborough – PASS
90. Moncton – Manuel Alberg (RW, Germany)
91. Tri-City – David Homola (D, Czech Republic)
92. Mississauga – Lucas Raymond (F, Sweden)
93. Chicoutimi – PASS
94. Medicine Hat – PASS
95. Kitchener – Axel Bergkvist (D, Sweden)
96. Cape Breton – PASS
97. Calgary – Samuel Krajc (RW, Slovakia)
98. Guelph – Roman Bychkov (D, Russia)
99. Charlottetown – PASS
100. Portland – Jonas Brondberg (D, Denmark)
101. Sudbury – Kalle Loponen (D, Finland)
102. Rimouski – Nikolai Mayorov (F, Russia)
103. Spokane – Matvei Startsev (D, Russia)
104. Oshawa – PASS
105. Baie-Comeau – Raivis Kristians Ansons (LW, Latvia)
106. Moose Jaw – PASS
107. Niagara – PASS
108. Halifax – PASS
109. Lethbridge – PASS
110. Sault Ste. Marie – PASS
111. Drummondville – Fabian Hochegger (F, Austria)
112. Edmonton – PASS
113. Saginaw – PASS
114. Rouyn-Noranda – Adrian Valigura (LW, Slovakia)
115. Saskatoon – Radek Kucerik (D, Czech Republic)
116. London – PASS
117. Everett – PASS
118. Ottawa – PASS
119. Vancouver – PASS
120. Prince Albert – PASS