Hunt prepared for unknowns in 2020 Import Draft

The draft is an annual event that involves teams from coast-to-coast. All 60 CHL member clubs are allocated two selections to use on players from outside of Canada or the United States. Unlike NHL teams, junior clubs don’t have an international scouting staff on the payroll, making the process even more challenging.

“It’s exciting because there’s a lot of unknown, but as video gets more and more expanded, we’re able to do a lot more scouting on our own once we kind of receive the list of players from the different agencies that represent them,” Hunt explained. “There’s always some unknown in there too, and there will be some kids that get picked that you didn’t know were coming [to Canada].”

Hunt estimates his list of prospects to pick from sits at about 85 players, so he’s comfortable with what will be available to the team at 45^th overall.

The Raiders also hold the 105^th pick, but at this point it looks like that selection will not be used. The club will have one open import spot for next season after the release of forward Daniil Stepanov, but Hunt expects Washington Capitals prospect Aliaksei Protas to return for his 19-year-old season as the Capitals have a tendency to let their prospects develop over time.

In the case Prince Albert did make a second selection, it would give them two weeks to make a move from the time Protas was hypothetically returned to the team from Capitals camp to get down to two imports. That is under normal timelines, so there is even more uncertainty given the pandemic-shifted schedule the NHL is dealing with.

Beyond that, Hunt doesn’t believe it’s fair to draft and recruit a player if the team isn’t fully committed.

“There’s significant costs to doing that, and the other part is you’re going to bring a player across and ask for them to make a commitment. In this particular year especially, I just don’t think at a human level it makes sense to bring a player all the way to Canada for a few weeks when we know we would be sending a player home.”

Whether the Raiders come away with a goaltender, defenceman, or forward remains to be seen. Between the pipes, the team appears set with 20-year-old Max Paddock and 18-year-old Carter Serhyenko both eligible to return.

On the blueline, the Raiders lose a pair of veterans in Zack Hayes and Jeremy Masella but have plenty of returning experience headlined by the draft-eligible duo of Kaiden Guhle and Landon Kosior.

Spencer Moe and Justin Nachbaur will be eligible to return as overagers in the forward group, and so far it looks like Stepanov and the graduated Brayden Watts will be the only two not in the mix to come back.

“A lot of it is who’s there. A lot of this draft is relationships, and then the other part is positionally, the hardest thing to do is be a young defenceman. To have an impact guy, you’re probably a little further ahead with a forward than as a defenceman. I think it’s a little easier for coaches to bring a forward along, and I do like our depth on defence anyways, so we’ll see where it falls,” Hunt said.

The general manager also pointed out the strength of the coaching staff and the established locker room culture which allow players to come into the organization and thrive.

The Ontario Hockey League’s North Bay Battalion will select first overall, the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League’s Acadie-Bathurst Titan go second, and the WHL’s Swift Current Broncos pick third.

Tuesday’s draft begins at 9 a.m.

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trevor.redden@jpbg.ca

On Twitter: @Trevor_Redden

by Trevor Redden

Hunt prepared for unknowns in 2020 Import Draft

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