Tigers prepare for first pick in CHL Import Draft on Friday

By James Tubb on June 30, 2022.

The Medicine Hat Tigers have one more benefit to reap from their difficult 2021-22 season.

The Tigers hold the first overall pick in the Canadian Hockey League’s Import Draft on July 1. It is the second time the WHL franchise has held the first pick in the draft — the Tigers drafted Czech defenceman Vladimir Sicak with the first pick in the 1998 CHL Import Draft. Sicak went on to skate in 105 WHL regular season games with Medicine Hat from 1998-2000.

The Tigers also had the first overall pick in the WHL’s Prospect Draft on May 19, selecting 15-year-old Gavin McKenna from from Whitehorse.

Tigers head coach and general manager Willie Desjardins was at the U18 World Championships after the Tabbies season came to a close in mid-April. He said the pick is a big one for the club and they’ve put in a lot of work ahead of the draft.

“We do lots of video, there’s lots and lots of video now where you can watch players, so we go through different players and watch them, but the biggest challenge is which players want to come over,” Desjardins said.

The Tigers have had success with the Import Draft in recent years. Latvain defenceman Bogdans Hodass and Russian defenceman Gleb Ivanov were both selected in the 2021 Import Draft and played for the Tigers last season.

Goaltender Mads Sogaard and forward Jonathan Brinkamn from Denmark were Tigers import picks in 2018, and Swedish defenceman Linus Massen was selected in 2017. All three played at least 50 games with the club.

With having the success they’ve have with getting European players to cross the water and don the orange and black, Desjardins said there is always pressure.

Having the first overall pick makes the day easier because they don’t have to worry about the player they want being picked by another team.

“It doesn’t mean it’s going to turn out any better but it does make it easier. You don’t have to worry about a guy you want being taken by somebody else,” Desjardins said. “You have the guy you want and then you can go after him, but there’s always lots of variables in there still, even with that.”

Desjardins would not say whether the Tigers had yet landed on who they will take with the first overall pick.

Each CHL team has two import slots available on their roster each season. Hodass had a strong season in Medicine Hat this year, playing in 57 games while contributing seven goals and 24 points and providing a physical presence on the blue line. Ivanov didn’t join the Tigers until November and put up three goals and nine points in his 48 games.

Ivanov was listed on the hockey statistic website Elite Prospects as joining the Torpedo Nizhny Novgorod of the Russian Kontinental Hockey League on June 6. Desjardins confirmed Ivanov would not be returning to the orange and black for the 2022-23 season.

The CHL Import draft gets underway Friday morning at 9 a.m. and can be found online on the CHL website.