Having had productive 20-year-old forwards Alex Gogolev and Jamie Crooks age-out at the end of the Western Hockey League season, look for the Victoria Royals to target a skill forward in today鈥檚 European import draft.
The Royals will select 31st among the 60 Canadian Hockey League teams in the WHL, OHL and QMJHL, based on inverse order of team won-lost records within each league during the 2012-13 season. The rotation will go WHL, followed by OHL and then QMJHL.
The WHL鈥檚 Vancouver Giants have the first overall pick, followed by the OHL鈥檚 Ottawa 67鈥檚 with the second and QMJHL鈥檚 Cape Breton Screaming Eagles with the third.
The Royals will have to wait awhile for their pick but feel they have a handle on the players who will be available at that mid-juncture of the draft.
鈥淲e have a pretty good idea of the players we like in each of the 1996, 1995 and 1994 [birth-year] age groups,鈥� said Victoria general-manager Cam Hope.
A 1994-born player will provide immediate impact but a 1996-born player can stay with the team longer in his junior career.
Each CHL team is allowed to carry two imports on the roster. With the Russian Gogolev graduating, the Royals will have an import slot open next season. The other is taken by starting Victoria goaltender Patrik Polivka from the Czech Republic, who has done some scouting for the Royals and given Hope recommendations and heads-up on some players in the Czech Republic and Slovakia.
Polivka is the last of a breed. This is the final year in which goaltenders can be selected in the import draft 鈥� and only in the first round. Although in the market more for a forward, Hope ruled out nothing.
鈥淭aking a goaltender is not out of the question,鈥� he said.
鈥淓verything is on the table.鈥�
CHL teams rarely scout Europe first-hand and must rely on scouts and agents they trust.
鈥淚t鈥檚 always a gamble,鈥� said Hope.
The draft goes for two rounds, but Hope confirmed the Royals will not be using their second pick.
There were 11 players selected in previous CHL import drafts who were in turn taken in the 2013 NHL draft on Sunday. They included first-rounders Nikita Zadorov, a Russian defenceman from the OHL鈥檚 London Knights, selected 16th overall by the Buffalo Sabres, and Mirco Mueller of the WHL鈥檚 Everett Silvertips, a Swiss blueliner taken 18th overall by the San Jose Sharks.
