Sea Dogs pick three in CHL Import Draft

Jan Běhounek

The Saint John Sea Dogs added two forwards and a defenseman during Tuesday's CHL Import Draft.

With their first selection, 14th overall, Saint John selected 17-year-old Czech forward Matyas Cancik. With their second pick of the first-round, the Sea Dogs chose 17-year-old Slovakian forward Oliver Ozogany at 44th overall.

In the second round, the Sea Dogs boosted their backend by selecting Finnish defender Vertti Svensk with the 66th overall pick. Svensk, who was a fifth-round pick of the Los Angeles Kings in this year's NHL Draft, will turn 19 in November.

Cancik split last season with Bílí Tygři Liberec's under-20 and under-17 teams. At the U17 level, the forward posted 22 goals and 22 assists in just 23 games while adding three goals and seven assists in nine playoff games. At the U20 level, he recorded a goal and seven assists in 12 games.

Cancik, listed at 5'9" and 170 lbs, is familiar with the Maritimes having played in the U17 World Challenge in Truro this past November. He recorded a goal and an assist in four games with Czechia.

Ozogany, meanwhile, is more familiar with the North American game having played with the USHL's Tri-City Storm this past season. In 58 games with the Storm, the forward posted nine goals and eight assists.

Listed at 6'2" and 197 lbs, Ozogany played with Slovakia at the recent IIHF U18 World Championship where he recorded an assist in five games.

Svensk, listed at 6'1" and 168 lbs, recorded three goals and 28 assists in 33 under-20 games with SaiPa. He also appeared in 18 games at the Liiga level (the top level of hockey in Finland) where he registered an assist.

Svensk was drafted in the fifth-round, 145th overall by Los Angeles in last weekend's NHL Draft.

"Svensk seems to be a modern offensive defenseman whose game is built around elite skating mechanics and high-end puck distribution," writes Cam McGuire of Kings Insider. "Scouts view him as a classic ‘high-reward project’ that will need to develop his defensive zone coverage. He plays an aggressive, high-activation style, and is a puck moving defender, which the Kings are looking for. He is able to use his exceptional skating to quarterback a power-play and can pull away from forecheckers in transition situations."

This is the second straight year the Sea Dogs have used all three of their selections in the CHL Import Draft. Entering the draft, it was looking like Saint John would have three open import spots on their roster.

The full results of this year's Import Draft can be found on the CHL website.