The 2025 CHL import draft has concluded with 42 players gaining QMJHL affiliation. Here's a quick debrief of what happened.
USHL to CHL pipeline?
One of the many criticisms of the November ruling allowing CHL-bound prospects to commit to NCAA Division-I programs, was the fear of early departures and further talent bleed from the CHL.
Historically, the CHL has been the pinnacle major junior circuit, with American players such as Hall of Famers Jeremy Roenick and Pat Lafontaine getting their start in the 'Q'. However, with the rise of the USHL and collegiate hockey, Americans and even import talent have begun to choose the collegiate path in seeking the optimal route for development.
Well, this past import draft might have signaled a change in approach as 20 European USHL players were selected in the 2025 draft, including second overall pick and Minnesota Wild prospect Adam Benak to Brantford (OHL), third overall pick Yegor Shilov to Victoriaville (QMJHL) and fourth overall pick and Detroit Red Wings prospect Michal Pradel to Regina (WHL).
Red wave
Another note of the CHL import draft was the sheer amount of Russian and Belarussian players selected.
Last year, the ban on Russian and Belarussian imports due to the war in Ukraine was lifted just ahead of the draft, and as such only nine Russians and one Belarussian were selected, or 14.63 per cent.
This year, 28 Russian players and seven Belarussian players were taken in the draft, accounting for 24.64 per cent of the draft.
This marks is the highest saturation of Russian and Belarussian players in the CHL import draft since 2021, where 32.14 per cent of the class was from either nation.
Rule changes
Another storyline from this year's draft were the rule changes the addition of an extra import slot for the first time in the draft's entire existence. All-in-all, 142 players were drafted today.
Further thanks to this rule change, for the first time since 2008, no pick was forfeited in the first round.
Transfers
Despite the all-time high import draft selections, there was only one inter-CHL transfer -- that being Russian forward Gleb Semyonov. Semenov was a 118th overall selection by the London Knights in the 2024 CHL import draft, signing with the team that August. However, the forward would get cut before he touched the ice for regular season action.
Semenov would bounce around to the USHL, and play with the Omaha Lancers before joining the WHL's Red Deer Rebels where he would tally seven points (2+5) through 25 games.
The Rebels would lapse his rights ahead of the Import draft, opting to select Slovakian defenseman Matus Lisy at 80th, and the Baie-Comeau Drakkar would give him another chance, taking him with the 97th overall pick.
QMJHL puck (Photo: Trevor MacMillan)First Round
3. VIC | C Yegor Shilov (2026 NHL draft eligible)
- USHL (Green Bay): 39 GP, 11 G, 17 A, 28 PTS
- Committed to the Boston University (26/27)
6. SNB | C Olivers Murnieks (2026 NHL draft eligible)
- USHL (Sioux City): 52 GP, 15 G, 20 A, 35 PTS
9. HFX | RW Oleg Kulebyakin (2026 NHL draft eligible)
- USHL (Lincoln): 6 GP, 0 G, 0 A, 0 PTS
- USA 16U AAA: 33 GP, 33 G, 39 A, 72 PTS
12. VIC | LW Alexei Vlasov (2026 NHL draft eligible)
- USHL (Sioux Falls): 51 GP, 11 G, 12 A, 23 PTS
- Committed to the University of Connecticut (27/28)
15. QUE | LW Nikita Ovcharov (2026 NHL draft eligible)
- MHL: 25 GP, 5 G, 5 A, 10 PTS
18. CHI | LW Maxim Schafer (Washington Capitals)
- DEL: 31 GP, 1 G, 2 A, 3 PTS
- DNL U20: 15 GP, 12 G, 23 A, 35 PTS
21. CHA | C Ivan Ryabkin (Carolina Hurricanes)
- USHL (Muskegon): 27 GP, 19 G, 11 A, 30 PTS
- MHL: 15 GP, 1 G, 11 A, 12 PTS
- VHL: 8 GP, 0 G, 2 A, 2 PTS
- KHL (Dynamo Moskow): 2 GP, 0 G, 0 A, 0 PTS
24. NFL | LW Marek Danicek (2026 NHL draft eligible/D+2)
- Extraliga (Sparta Praha): 11 GP, 0 G, 0 A, 0 PTS
- CZE U20: 41 GP, 26 G, 38 A, 64 PTS
27. SHE | F Ilya Kolmakov (2027 NHL draft eligible)
- USA 16U AAA: 63 GP, 53 G, 104 A, 157 PTS
- USHL (Fargo); 1 GP, 1 G, 1 A, 2 PTS
30. CBE | C Maxime Sauthier (2026 NHL draft eligible)
- SUI U20: 42 GP, 11 G, 16 A, 27 PTS
33. BLB | G Arseni Radkov (Montreal Canadiens)
- MHL: 19 GP, .918 sv%, 3.18 GAA
36. BAC | F Jacopo De Luca (2026 NHL draft eligible/D+1)
- SUI U20: 44 GP, 10 G, 19 A, 29 PTS
39. ROU | D Guus van der Kaalj (2026 NHL draft eligible/D+1)
- SUI U20: 33 GP, 3 G, 13 A, 16 PTS
- SL: 11 GP, 0 G. 2 A, 2 PTS
- NL (HC Davos): 1 GP, 0 G, 0 A
42. CHI | LW Anton Linde (2026 NHL draft eligible/D+2)
- J20 NAT: 23 GP, 7 G, 6 A, 13 PTS
- SHL (Vaxjo Lakers): 13 GP, 0 G, 1 A, 1 PT
- Metal Ligaen: 8 GP, 1 G, 0 A, 1 PT
45. SHA | F Elias Schneider (2026 NHL draft eligible/D+1)
- DEL: 13 GP, 0 G, 0 A, 0 PTS
- DNL U20: 31 GP, 33 G, 31 A, 64 PTS
48. DRU | G Jan Larys (2026 NHL draft eligible)
- CZE U20: 14 GP, .917 sv%, 3.17 GAA
- CZE U17: 15 GP, .927 sv%, 2.64 GAA
51. RIM | F Dovydas Jukna (2026 NHL draft eligible/D+1)
- SUI U20: 45 GP, 20 G, 15 A, 35 PTS
54. MON | D Eerik Wallenius (Ottawa Senators)
- U20 SM: 39 GP, 4 G, 18 A, 22 PTS
- Liiga (HPK): 5 GP, 0 G, 0 A, 0 PTS
Second Round
64. GAT | Danai Shaiikov (2026 NHL draft eligible/D+1)
- MHL: 5 GP, .921 sv%, 1.62 GAA
- RUS U18: 15 GP, .927 sv%, 2.04 GAA
67. SNB | D Patryk Zubek (2026 NHL draft eligible/D+1)
- SVK-2: 22 GP, 4 G, 3 A, 7 PTS
- SVK U20: 16 GP, 5 G, 15 A, 20 PTS
- Slovakia (HC Banska Bystrica): 1 GP, 0 G, 0 A, 0 PTS
70. HFX | F Jasu Mensonen (2026 NHL draft eligible/D+1)
- U20 SM: 40 GP, 5 G, 21 A, 26 PTS
73. GAT | F Lev Gaponov (2026 NHL draft eligible)
- NMHL: 15 GP, 6 G, 4 A, 10 PTS
76. QUE | F Vladimir Karabayev (2026 NHL draft eligible)
- Belarus2: 51 GP, 21 G, 11 A, 32 PTS
79. MON | D Carl-Otto Magnusson (2026 NHL draft eligible/D+2)
- J20 NAT: 44 GP, 3 G, 5 A, 8 PTS
- SHL (Frolunda HC): 3 GP, 0 G, 0 A, 0 PTS
82. CHA | F Juraj Jonas Durco (2026 NHL draft eligible)
- SVK U20: 28 GP, 12 G, 14 A, 26 PTS
- SVK-2: 13 GP, 3 G, 2 A, 5 PTS
- Slovakia (HK Dukla Trecin): 9 GP, 0 G, 1 A, 1 PT
85. NFL | F Alexei Zhukov (2026 NHL draft eligible)
- USA 16U AAA: 61 GP, 37 G, 42 A, 79 PTS
- USHL (Fargo): 1 GP, 1 G, 0 A, 1 PT
- Committed to Providence College (26/27)
88. SHE | F Martins Klaucans (2026 NHL draft eligible)
- NAHL: 46 GP, 5 G, 8 A, 13 PTS
91. CBE | F Adam Klaus (2026 NHL draft eligible)
- SUI U20: 46 GP, 16 G, 19 A, 35 PTS
94. BLB | F Torkel Jennersjo (2026 NHL draft eligible)
- USHL (Dubuque): 50 GP, 12 G, 7 A, 19 PTS
97. BAC | C Gleb Semenov (2026 NHL draft eligible)
- WHL (Red Deer): 25 GP, 2 G, 5 A, 7 PTS
- USHL (Omaha): 11 GP, 1 G, 1 A, 2 PTS
100. ROU | F Vladislav Murzov (2026 NHL draft eligible)
- Belarus2: 44 GP, 35 G, 23 A, 58 PTS
- Belarus: 1 GP, 0 G, 0 A, 0 PTS
103. VIC | F Ignati Shumilin (2026 NHL draft eligible)
- RUS U18: 2 GP, 0 G, 0 A, 0 PTS
106. SHA | F Christian Furuvik (2026 NHL draft eligible)
- J20 NAT: 1 GP, 0 G, 0 A, 0 PTS
- J18 NAT: 18 G, 5 G, 6 A, 11 PTS
109. DRU | D Filip Kovalcik (2027 NHL draft eligible
- SVK U20: 37 GP, 1 G, 12 A, 13 PTS
- SVK-2: 3 GP, 0 G, 0 A, 0 PTS
112. RIM | LW Raphael Achermann (2026 NHL draft eligible)
- SUI U20: 43 GP, 12 G, 13 A, 25 PTS
115. VDO | F Vitali Korolyuk (2026 NHL draft eligible/D+2)
- MHL: 47 GP, 12 G, 17 A, 29 PTS
Third Round
125. VDO | D Ivan Stefanishin (2026 NHL draft eligible/D+1)
- MHL: 42 GP, 2 G, 14 A, 16 PTS
- KHL (SKA St. Petersburg): 1 GP, 0 G, 0 A, 0 PTS
128. SNB | D Max Vilen (2026 NHL draft eligible/D+2)
- J20 NAT: 36 GP, 4 G, 15 A, 19 PTS
137. RIM | D Luca Nappiot (2026 NHL draft eligible/D+1)
- SUI U20: 42 GP, 6 G, 18 A, 24 PTS
- SL: 13 GP, 0 G, 0 A, 0 PTS
140. MON | LW Kuzma Voronin (2026 NHL draft eligible/D+2)
- USHL (Youngstown/Fargo): 49 GP, 10 G, 18 A, 26 PTS
- Committed to the University of Maine (25/26)
149. SHE | D Reinis Auzins (2026 NHL draft eligible/D+1)
- U18 SM: 30 GP, 5 G, 15 A, 20 PTS
158. BAC | F Filip Vik (2026 NHL draft eligible)
- CZE U17: 31 GP, 18 G, 20 A, 38 PTS
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