Import draft rundown

A quick look at the import situation around the league, and how many picks we might see from WHL clubs on Wednesday:

Brandon: can draft two imports. Last year's two (Mark Mieritz and Hampus Gustafsson) will not be back. Mieritz was released in midseason and Gustafsson signed to play pro in Europe last week. Still own the rights to Toni Rajala and Kirill Gotovets but are very unlikely to see either of them as overagers.

Calgary: can draft two imports. Last year's two were Misha Fisenko (graduated overager) and Juraj Holly (released midseason). Still own the rights to Erik Haula and Dmitrj Jaskin; not likely to see Haula leave NCAA to play in the WHL as an overager but Jaskin is only 18 and was a 2nd round NHL pick on the weekend so who knows where his NHL club (St. Louis) might steer him?

Edmonton: can draft one, as they have forward Kristian Pells returning as a 19 year old. Traded Marek Hrbas to Kamloops this morning to open up that spot.

Everett: can draft two imports. Last year's imports were Jesse Huhtala (released without playing a game) and Rasmus Rissanen (signed pro contract, not likely back as overager).

Kamloops: can draft one. Released last year's two imports (Bernhard Keil and Dalibor Bortnak) but acquired Hrbas from Edmonton today to occupy one spot.

Kelowna: can draft two new imports. Released last year's two (Andreas Stene and Gal Koren) earlier this offseason. Still own the rights to Teemu Pulkkinen if he decides to come over as a 19 year old this year.

Kootenay: can draft two. Didn't use imports last year. Haven't ruled out drafting some this year though.

Lethbridge: can draft one. Have Alex Kuvaev returning from last year but apparently have ruled out bringing Jacob Berglund back as an overager.

Medicine Hat: can draft one. Have Patrik Parkkonen and Sebastien Owuya eligible to return from last year but I'm not sure if they want Owuya as an overager. Might keep Parkkonen since he was only 17 last year. Would have to drop Parkkonen to draft more than one import this year.

Moose Jaw: can draft two since last year's pair, Antonin Honejsek and Sebastien Svendsen, are both overagers and don't count. No idea if either of those guys are coming back but they can draft two new ones either way.

Portland: can't draft any and won't draft any. Would have to trade/drop Nino Niederreiter and/or Sven Bartschi to make any picks and that just won't happen.

Prince Albert: can draft one. Two if they decide not to bring Michal Hlinka back for a second year. The Raiders do have two high picks (#15 and #24 overall) so I can see them making two picks and dropping Hlinka.

Prince George: can draft one for sure but they're in a pickle on the 2nd one since the Oilers have apparently decided to put Martin Marincin in the AHL next year. So do the Cougars drop him and pick somebody else? Or hang onto him in the hopes the Oilers change their mind on that?

Red Deer: can draft one, as Andrej Kudrna is an overage and doesn't count towards the limit. John Persson should be back as a 19 year old in the other spot.

Regina: can draft one, assuming Ricard Blidstrand is coming back for another year. And with the state of their blueline, I can't imagine why he wouldn't be welcomed back.

Saskatoon: can pick one to replace the graduated Marek Viedensky. Matej Stransky should be back in the other spot.

Seattle: can draft none unless they drop Dave Sutter. They won't be dropping Marcel Noebels but they could drop Sutter if there's somebody better available to them with their second round pick - after all, they traded their first round pick to Prince Albert, so they don't have one. Probably they do nothing though.

Spokane: can't draft any unless they drop Marek Kalus - which, given how sparsely he was used last year, is a distinct possibility. They won't be dropping Dominik Uher though.

Swift Current: can draft one as they only have Richard Nedomlel coming back. Still own the rights to Finnish goalie Joni Ortio but he seems unlikely to report as an overager. Can still draft one more either way.

Tri-City: can draft two, as Nikita Kardashev was released and Nikita Nesterov never reported. They still own Nesterov's rights in case he decides to come over though.

Vancouver: can draft one. Marek Tvrdon is a definite keeper and who knows, they might decide to bring Andrej Stastny back as a two-spotter next year too. But they can draft one more regardless of their plans for Stastny.

Victoria: can draft two. Last year's two were Roman Horak (turning pro) and Robin Soudek; unless Soudek has pro aspirations in Europe, I imagine there might be some interest from the Royals in having him back as a two spot player. But they can draft two players regardless.