Sea Dogs select Schenk in Import Draft

The Saint John Sea Dogs selected Swiss forward Florian Schenk with the seventh overall pick in Wednesday's CHL Import Draft.

The Sea Dogs did not use their second round selection with Schenk and Latvian forward Eriks Mateiko poised to be Saint John's import duo to start the 2024-25 season. The team announced Tuesday that Czech forward Pavel Simek has been released.

The 17-year-old played with the SC Bern program last year, posting six goals and six assists in nine games at the under-17 level and eight goals and 17 assists in 42 games at the under-20 level. He's also played internationally with Switzerland at the under-16 and -17 levels.

“We’re excited to add Florian to our group. He fits the age of our core and he’s a player we can build with,” said Sea Dogs general manager Anthony Stella in a news release. “His combination of size, skill and compete fits the Sea Dogs mold and we’re looking forward to seeing him on the ice in Saint John in August.”

Surprisingly, this is just the second time the Sea Dogs have drafted a Swiss player in the Import Draft with goaltender Robert Mayer being the other way back in 2007. Saint John has had other Swiss players on their team before – like Noah Patenaude and Vincent Despont – but they were not taken in the Import Draft (nor were they officially classified as import players).

Simek, meanwhile, was picked in the second round on Wednesday by the Memorial Cup host Rimouski Oceanic.

There were a few other notable picks by QMJHL teams on Wednesday. The Val-d'Or Foreurs made a big splash by picking Calgary Flames first round pick Matvei Gridin. The Russian forward played in the USHL last season and was committed to the University of Michigan.

Adding this as context from @scottcwheeler: https://t.co/xfqlpCY44d

— Connor Earegood (@ConnorEaregood) July 3, 2024

The Moncton Wildcats also made a couple intriguing picks, drafting Boston Bruins defensive prospect Loke Johansson and Minnesota Wild defensive prospect Aron Kiviharju of Finland.

The Acadie-Bathurst Titan drafted a couple of NHL drafted players as well, selecting Montreal Canadiens goaltending prospect Mikus Vecvanags of Latvia and Czech forward Petr Sikora of the Washington Capitals.

The full results on the Import Draft can be found on the CHL website.