WHL and import draft

For the most part, teams involved in Wednesday’s CHL import draft stayed away from players who already had been NHL draft picks.
Not the Kelowna Rockets.
Bruce Hamilton, the Rockets’ president and general manager, used his two selections, both in the first round, on players who already belong to NHL teams.
With the seventh selection, Hamilton took Slovakian C Milan Kytnar, 18. It had been speculated that the Edmonton Oil Kings would use the first overall pick on Kytnar, who had been selected by their owners, the Edmonton Oilers, in the fifth round, 127th overall, of last weekend’s NHL draft.
The Oil Kings, however, took Czech C Tomas Vincour. Vincour, 6-foot-2 and 198 pounds, won’t turn 17 until Nov. 19, meaning he isn’t eligible for the NHL draft until 2009 — only players who turn 18 by Sept. 15 are eligible for that year’s draft. Vincour had 39 points, including 15 goals, and 58 penalty minutes in 41 games with Kometa Brno of the Czech under-20 league.
Kytnar, 6-foot-0 and 183 pounds, had 91 points, including 37 goals, in 53 games in the Slovakian under-18 league, and added 11 points in 22 games in the second division men’s league last season. He also captained his country’s team at the world under-18 championship in Finland, where he had seven points in six games.
“I really like him. He’s the guy I wanted,” said Hamilton, who watched Kytnar in Finland. “He reminded me of (ex-Rockets C) Tyler Spurgeon. He plays hard, works down low very well. He’s probably a better skater than Spurgeon.
“And he’s competitive. They didn’t have a great team and he played the same whether they were playing the Canadians or the Americans or whoever.”
Kytnar is represented by Newport Sports Management and will be at the Rockets’ training camp in August.
“I spoke to him today,” Hamilton said. “He speaks pretty good Enlish and he’s excited about coming here.”
With his second pick, the 43rd selection, which he had acquired from the Kamloops Blazers for a first-round pick in the 2008 import draft, Hamilton grabbed Swedish C Mikael Backlund, 18, who went to the Calgary Flames with the 24th pick of last weekend’s NHL draft. Backlund, 6-foot-0 and 180 pounds, had three points with Vasteras IK of the second division last season.
Hamilton said that he felt a lot of teams were taking 1990-born players and that the Rockets are deep in that age group, so . . .
“I felt we could take a chance on this guy and if we don’t get him this year there’s a good chance we could get him next year,” Hamilton said.
Darryl Sutter is the Flames’ general manager; his brother, Brent, is the owner, general manager and head coach of the WHL’s Red Deer Rebels. It was thought that if Backlund was headed this way, the Rebels would have taken him with the 31st pick.
“That probably lends to the belief he wouldn’t be coming over right now,” Hamilton said, adding that he has spoken with Backlund’s agent, J.P. Barry, “and explained why we were interested in doing it.”
“Today’s draft is good for us,” Hamilton continued. “I’d be happy walking away with the first guy and if we fall into something . . . it’s more about next year than anything with Backlund.”
The Rockets, who are coming off a season in which they didn’t make the playoffs, are also in hot pursuit of two highly touted NHL draft picks — C Michael Carman, 19, and LW Jamie Benn, who turns 18 on Aug. 18.
Carman, a third-round pick, 81st overall, of the Colorado Avalanche in 2006, is from Augusta, Ga. He had 20 points and 55 penalty minutes in 41 games at the U of Minnesota last season but, according to Hamilton, isn’t returning to the Gophers. Carman also played for the U.S. national junior team.
Benn, from Victoria, had 65 points, including 42 goals, in 53 games with the BCHL’s Victoria Grizzlies. He was taken by the Dallas Stars in the fifth round, 129th overall, of the NHL draft on Saturday. He has committed to attend the U of Alaska-Fairbanks and play for the Nanooks.
Of the 71 players taken in the import draft, only seven were NHL draft picks.
Here is how the other B.C. Division teams fared in the import draft:
l With the 10th selection, the Chilliwack Bruins took Czech D David Hoda, who turns 18 on Oct. 16. Hoda had 22 points and 76 penalty minutes in the Czech under-20 league. Chilliwack dropped Finnish C Aki Kangasmaki, who played there as a 17-year-old last season. The Bruins’ other import is star Swedish RW Oscar Moller, 18.
l Picking 28th, the Prince George Cougars took Patrik Magnusson, a 6-foot-7, 245-pound Swedish defenceman. Magnusson, 19, had 19 points and 91 penalty minutes with HV-71 in the Swedish junior league. The Cougars’ history includes two other rather large import defencemen — 6-foot-7 Vladimir Mihalik, who player there last season, and 6-foot-8 Zdeno Chara, now with the Boston Bruins.
The Cougars followed up by using the 69th pick on Czech C Jan Kupec.
l The Vancouver Giants, amid rumours that RW Michal Repik, who turns 19 on Dec. 31, is being courted by Sparta Prague, his club team in Czech Republic, didn’t take part. They did acquire Slovakian D Juraj Valach, 18, from the Tri-City Americans for the 54th pick in the import draft; Tri-City used it to take 6-foot-6, 230-pound Czech D Josef Tichy, 19.
Valach informed the Americans earlier this week that the only way he would play in the WHL again is if he were traded.
"He said he did not enjoy his time in Tri-City and blamed the team for him not being drafted last week (in the NHL draft),” Tri-City GM Bob Tory told the Tri-City Herald. “If he doesn't want to be here, I don't want him in the dressing room. He's not our worry any more."
The Giants’ roster now includes three imports — Repik, Valach and C Mario Bliznak, 20. Bliznak has signed with the Vancouver Canucks and is expected to play in their organization.
The complete draft is in Scoreboard.
DRAFT NOTES: Kamloops, with wingers Juusu Puustinen and Ivan Rohac returning, didn’t take part. . . . CHL teams are permitted to have two imports on their rosters, unless one is a 20-year-old. In that case, teams can carry three until Oct. 10. . . . Edmonton, which selected Swedish C Robin Figren from the Calgary Hitmen in the expansion draft earlier this month, dealt its second-round pick to the Medicine Hat Tigers for a 2008 sixth-round bantam draft, while Kelowna dealt its second-round pick to the Prince Albert Raiders for a seventh-round 2009 bantam pick. . . . The Portland Winter Hawks dealt their second-round pick to the Moose Jaw Warriors and Calgary acquired Chilliwack’s second import selection, but terms of those deals weren’t released by either club or the WHL office.
Teams combined to take 10 goaltenders, with three of them heading for the WHL. Lethbridge, Seattle and Medicine Hat selected goaltenders. The Hurricanes took Juha Metsola, 18, of Finland to compete in camp with veterans Justin Leclerc, 18, and Mike Maniago, 19. The Thunderbirds used the 45th pick on Riku Helenius, 19, of Finland. He was a first-round pick, 15th overall, by Tampa Bay in the NHL’s 2006 draft and has signed with the Lightning. The Thunderbirds released Czech winger Radek Meidl, 19, to make room for Helenius. They also have Czech LW Jan Eberle, 18, on their roster. . . . Medicine Hat grabbed Czech G Tomas Vosvrda, who turns 18 on Sept. 12, with the first pick of the second round, 60th overall. The WHL champions lose veteran Matt Keetley, who has used up his eligibility. Backup Ryan Holfeld, 18, got into 16 regular-season games and played only four minutes in 23 playoff games.