CHL IMPORT DRAFT

Our scouts covered many international events live at the rinks this season including having 3 scouts at the Four Nations tournament for 5 days in Ann Arbor, 1 scout at the 5 Nations in Sweden for the full event, 4 scouts at the World Under 17 Challenge for 7 days in Victoriaville and 1 scout at the World Under 18 for 6 days in Sochi, Russia. Our 2013 NHL Draft Black Book is packed with information on prospects eligible for this years (and next years) CHL Import Draft.

Lyamkin, Nikita – LD – Kuznetskie Medvedi (MHL) – 6’3” 165

Nikita spent the past season in the MHL and enjoyed very successful World U-17 Challenge in Victoriaville/Drummondville, helping Russia to a Silver Medal. Nikita has excellent size and displays an exceptional level of hockey sense. He is extremely strong positionally and always seems to be in the right place on the ice. He is a strong skater with good mobility allowing him to match up against forwards very well one on one. He rarely if ever gets beat. Nikita shows a willingness to battle along the wall with a nastiness in his game. He won the majority of battles, he will win even more as he gets stronger within his big frame.

Baltisberger, Phil – LD – GC Kusnacht Lions (NLB) – 6’0” 210

Phil has moved up the development ranks of ZSC Lions from U15 all the way up to playing in a few playoff games for the men’s top league team over the past two years. He moves the puck up ice very effectively. He doesn’t show a lot of flash offensively, but he gets the job done with intelligence and poise reading plays well in the offensive zone. He also possesses a cannon of a shot from the point which is very dangerous when he gets it on goal. Phil is at his best when working along the boards. He’s got great size and strength and wins a lot of battles in the corners and along the walls. He battles hard and uses his size very intelligently in the defensive zone. He’s usually strong in one on one situations but can get burned on his pivot at times. Phil projects to be the top prospect coming out of Switzerland next season. He already has two World Junior Championships under his belt, and could represent Switzerland four times at the WJC by the time he reaches the age of 20. He already possesses good size and strength, although we’d like to see him improve his skating a little.

Quotable: “Liked him in Sochi this year, he was much bigger than when I saw him previously. He played smart hockey. Feet were a little sluggish, perhaps due to the weight gain. He competes hard and wins battles.” – Mark Edwards

 DRAFT ORDER

1 Vancouver
2 Ottawa
3 Cape Breton
4 Prince George
5 Erie
6 Shawinigan

7 Brandon
8 Peterborough
9 Saint John
10 Everett
11 Windsor
12 Sherbrooke
13 Seattle
14 Mississauga
15 Acadie-Bathurst
16 Regina
17 Kingston
18 Gatineau
19 Moose Jaw
20 Niagara
21 Chicoutimi
22 Lethbridge
23 Sudbury
24 Victoriaville
25 Kootenay
26 Saginaw
27 Val d’Or
28 Medicine Hat
29 Sarnia
30 Drummondville
31 Victoria
32 North Bay
33 Rouyn-Noranda
34 Swift Current
35 S.S. Marie
36 Charlottetown
37 Prince Albert
38 Guelph
39 Moncton
40 Red Deer
41 Kitchener
42 Québec
43 Tri-City
44 Oshawa
45 Blainville-Boisbriand
46 Spokane
47 Barrie
48 Rimouski
49 Saskatoon
50 Owen Sound
51 Baie-Comeau
52 Calgary
53 Plymouth
54 Halifax
55 Kamloops
56 Belleville
57 Edmonton
58 London
59 Kelowna
60 Portland