The annual Import Draft begins at noon Atlantic on Friday with the Saint John Sea Dogs currently holding the 48th and 108th overall picks, respectively. Both of those picks will likely be higher with some teams opting to pass on their selections.
The WHL's Medicine Hat Tigers will pick first overall followed by the OHL's Saginaw Spirit and QMJHL's Cape Breton Eagles.
The draft can be followed on the CHL website.
Both of Saint John's current import players, forward Raivis Ansons and defenseman Yan Kuznetsov, are expected to graduate to the professional ranks for 2022-23.
The Sea Dogs have made two picks in four of the past five Import Drafts.
The Sea Dogs selected Kuznetsov, a Calgary Flames prospect, with their first-round pick last year. In the second-round, the Sea Dogs selected Belarusian forward Evgeny Sapelnikov, who the team dealt to the Baie-Comeau Drakkar in the Ansons deal.
The major news surrounding this year's Import Draft is that Russian and Belarusian players are not eligible to be selected, making for a smaller pool of players to pick from. The Sea Dogs have selected a total of five Russians and one Belarusian in their history.
The 2022 QMJHL Entry Draft, meanwhile, takes place virtually this Monday and Tuesday.
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