In the days following the NHL draft, the CHL has its annual Import Draft where its 60 teams can select up to two international players, depending on how many returning international players they have. This year’s draft was held on Wednesday, with a total of 18 players that were picked at last week’s NHL draft getting selected. They are as follows, listed by the order of their selection with their NHL draft slot in parentheses:
Matvei Gridin (Val-d’Or, QMJHL), Calgary (Round 1/28th Overall)
Ilya Protas (Windsor, OHL), Washington (3/75)
Gabriel Eliasson (Niagara, OHL), Ottawa (2/39)
Miroslav Holinka (Edmonton, WHL), Toronto (5/151)
Emil Hemming (Barrie, OHL), Dallas (1/29)
Mikus Vecvanags (Acadie-Bathurst, QMJHL), Montreal (5/134)
Markus Loponen (Victoria, WHL), Winnipeg (5/155)
Basile Sansonnens (Rimouski, QMJHL), Vancouver Canucks (7/221)
Loke Johansson (Moncton, QMJHL), Boston (6/186)
Kasper Pikkarainen (Red Deer, WHL), New Jersey (3/85)
Niilopekka Muhonen (Medicine Hat, WHL), Dallas (5/158)
Igor Chernyshov (Saginaw, OHL), San Jose (2/33)
Petr Sikora (Acadie-Bathurst, QMJHL), Washington Capitals (6/178)
Sebastian Soini (Blainville-Boisbriand, QMJHL), Minnesota Wild (5/140)
Aron Kiviharju (Moncton, QMJHL), Minnesota Wild (4/122)
Ondrej Kos (Kitchener, OHL), St. Louis Blues (3/81)
Veeti Vaisanen (Medicine Hat, WHL), Utah (3/96)
Lucas Pettersson (Saginaw, OHL), Anaheim (2/35)
Not all of these players will go to their new teams right away; some won’t at all and others might come next season or later depending on their contractual situation at that time. However, these players will now have another possible place to play and in several of those situations, the NHL team who drafted the player will likely try to steer them to play in the CHL where they can get into more games while making it easier for development coaches and scouts to check in on them.
Of the 64 non-NHL draftees selected, several of them should become viable prospects for the 2025 draft. A total of ten players picked in last year’s Import Draft were picked by NHL teams last weekend. Meanwhile, Leon Draisaitl, Nikita Kucherov, and Nikolaj Ehlers are among the notable NHL players who were picked in this draft and then came to play major junior in North America.
Interesting that there are more than a few 5th round + players on here. Makes me wonder if NHL teams might not select players viewed as promising in terms of skill set because they’re afraid they might not have a suitable place to develop their promise..? Anyone able to address that? Is it more likely these late round picks have been scouted better by the CHL clubs than the NHL clubs? Seems unlikely, but maybe they have more time to look to connects with younger folks? Very curious.
This is an import draft, so the only players eligible are non-North Americans.
I’m pretty sure it’s non North American players
You’ll also notice players like Igor Chernyshov, Aron Kiviharju and Lucas Pettersson went relatively late in this draft. That is not because they are ungood, but because they are not expected to cross the pond until they get pro contracts, hence leapfrogging the CHL altogether.
@deadthings is correct. Often, somebody’s selection in a CHL import draft has nothing to do with talent – rather, how likely they are to actually play there vs. NCAA/USHL/overseas/etc.
Someone on Val-d’Or read Matvei Gridin’s tweet about classes being “optional” when he committed to Michigan State.
One I’ll take the time to understand all the junior hockey leagues!
most feel I need a flow chart!
OHL, QMJHL and WHL all operate under the CHL umbrella. All Canada-based (hence the CHL governing body) but OHL/WHL have some U.S. teams