Wednesday, July 2, 2025

Sea Dogs pick three in Import Draft

As expected, the Saint John Sea Dogs made three selections in Wednesday's CHL Import Draft.

With the sixth overall selection, the Sea Dogs headed back to Latvia, selecting forward Olivers Murnieks. The soon-to-turn-17-year-old is eligible for the 2026 NHL Draft and is considered a top prospect by Elite Prospects.

Murnieks spent last season with the USHL's Sioux City Musketeers where he posted 15 goals and 20 assists in 52 games. He also played at the 2025 IIHF World Junior Championship alongside former Sea Dogs captain Eriks Mateiko where he recorded a goal and three assists in five games – an impressive showing for a 16-year-old.

The 2024-25 season was Murnieks' first in North America.


Mateiko, who was a second-round pick of Saint John in the 2022 CHL Import Draft, is the only other Latvian the team has ever selected. 

In the second round, the Sea Dogs selected Slovakian defenseman Patryk Zubek with the 67th overall selection. The 18-year-old is listed at 6'3" and 203 lbs.

Zubek, who also has Polish citizenship, seemed to spend most of last season with Slovakia's under-18 program. He also appeared in games with HC Banska Bystrica and Barani Banska Bystrica U20. He suited up with Slovakia at this year's IIHF U18 World Championship. 

Zubek is the fourth Slovak the Sea Dogs have ever selected.


In the third-round – which is new this year with the CHL allowing three imports – Saint John picked Swedish defenseman Max Vilén. The 19-year-old is listed at 6'3" and 198 lbs.

Vilén posted four goals and 15 assists in 36 games with the Malmö Redhawks under-20 team last year. Elite Prospects has him playing for the Växjö Lakers under-20 team next season.

This is the first time the Sea Dogs have drafted a player from Sweden – and there's a reason for that. Not many Swedes make the move to the CHL, so this will be an interesting storyline to follow during the off-season.

The Memorial Cup host Kelowna Rockets picked first overall, taking Czech forward Tomas Poletin, who was recently drafted in the fourth-round of this year's NHL Draft by the New York Islanders. The Victoriaville Tigres were the only QMJHL team to pick ahead of Saint John, taking Russian forward Egor Shilov third overall. 

1 comment:

  1. now the question is and its an important one...... how many of these three are going to come to SJ?? When will that question be answered?

    ReplyDelete