The Ontario Hockey League’s North Bay Battalion selected Russian winger Matvei Petrov with the first overall pick of the 2020 Canadian Hockey League import draft.
The 17-year-old had nine points (five goals, four assists) over 21 games with MHK Krylia Sovetov of Russia’s top junior circuit.
The Acadie-Bathurst Titan of the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League selected Czech goaltender Jan Bednar with the second pick of the two-round draft.
The 17-year-old played 13 games with Karlovy Vary in the top-flight Extraliga in 2019-20 putting up a 4.39 goals-against-average and a .884 save percentage. Bednar also played 24 games on loan in the Czech second division for HC Banik Sokolov.
The Swift Current Broncos of the Western Hockey League used the third-overall pick to claim Slovak defenceman Oliver Fatul. The six-foot-four, 179-pound defenceman spent the bulk of the campaign with HKM Zloven of the Slovak professional league, recording two assists in 29 games. He also spent time on loan to Finnish club Tappara, where he played on its U18 and U20 squads.
Russian defenceman Danil Gushchin (Niagara, OHL) and Swiss winger Atillio Biasca (Halifax, QMJHL) rounded out the top five selections.
Russia had the most players selected with 15, followed by the Czech Republic (13) and Slovakia (9).
The draft took place online due to restrictions on gatherings from the COIVD-19 pandemic.
Each CHL team is permitted to dress a maximum of two import players each season who are selected annually through the import draft.
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