The Victoria Royals hope they have a Swiss who can鈥檛 miss.
The Royals selected U-17 Switzerland international Keanu Derungs with the 28th overall selection Thursday in the 2019 Canadian Hockey League import draft.
The five-foot-11, 170-pound winger played 16 games for Switzerland鈥檚 U-17 team in various international tournaments and scored three goals with six assists for nine points.
The Royals鈥� U.S. scouts saw Derungs play in a U-17 tournament last winter in Plymouth, Michigan.
In club play, Derungs had five goals and nine assists for 14 points in 34 games last season with EHC Kloten in the Switzerland U-20 Elit League, which is that country鈥檚 top junior league. He also played 23 games for the EHC Kloten program鈥檚 team in the U-17 Elit League with 14 goals and nine assists for 23 points.
鈥淚t鈥檚 not typical to select a 17-year-old in the import draft,鈥� said Royals GM Cameron Hope.
鈥淏ut he has played against older U-20 players and looks to be ahead of the curve. If we were ever going to take a 17-year-old, this was the year to do it because we have a lot of veteran forwards returning to carry the load, which will give [Derungs] time to adapt to the WHL game. There is no reason to rush him.鈥�
Victoria has seven returning 19-year-old forwards and four 18-year-olds, so a 17-year-old like Derungs should be well insulated on a veteran-laden offensive corps.
Each CHL team can carry two import players.
With forward and Belarusian U-20 international Igor Martynov signing with a pro team in Belarus, Danish international U-20 forward Phillip Schultz was the lone import on the Victoria roster heading into the draft.
The 60 teams in the CHL conduct the annual import draft with the WHL, Ontario Hockey League and Quebec Major Junior Hockey League clubs selecting in inverse order of last season鈥檚 regular-season placings.
The Swift Current Broncos of the WHL had the first overall selection and picked Finnish defenceman Kasper Puutio.
Of the 30 players selected by WHL clubs, 10 were from the Czech Republic, five from Russia, four from Finland, three each from Switzerland and Slovakia, two each from Denmark and Germany and one from Sweden.
ICE CHIPS: Former Royals forward Brandon Magee has signed a two-year deal with Kunlun Red Star of China in the Kontinental Hockey League. Magee graduated after four WHL seasons in Victoria to the pro Idaho Steelheads of the ECHL in 2015-16 before joining his hometown University of Alberta Golden Bears and winning back-to-back sa国际传媒 West titles and the 2018 U Sports national championship. Magee will be playing for former WHL Victoria Cougars star and NHLer Curt Fraser, who is head coach of Kunlun Red Star.
