Selection order of 2023 CHL Import Draft revealed

The OHL’s Erie Otters will have the first overall selection in the 2023 CHL Import Draft that will take place July 5, 2023 at 11am ET.

Erie finished the 2022-23 season with a 21-40-2-5 record as they collected 49 points in 68 games.

The Otters used their first-round selection in 2022 on Slovakian forward Ondrej Molnar who joined the club shortly before the Christmas break. Molnar, who was the fifth overall pick, played 34 games with the Otters and recorded 19 points (four goals). NHL Central Scouting place Molnar as the 129th ranked North American skater ahead of the 2023 NHL Draft. Erie did not use its second-round selection in 2022.

The Otters earned the first overall pick in the 2023 CHL Import Draft after they had won the 2023 OHL Priority Selection Lottery. The second round sees Niagara and Erie revert to their default draft position based off of the OHL’s regular season standings in 2022-23.

The QMJHL’s Acadie-Bathurst Titan owns the second overall pick after it compiled a 20-40-5-3 record in 2022-23. The Titan chose Swedish forward Markas Samenas with the 39th overall pick in the 2022 CHL Import Draft and he suited up 55 times with the club, tallying six goals and 13 points. The club also selected Latvian d-man Peteris Bulans 99th overall who played just twice for the Titan before he was traded to Chicoutimi, where he appeared in 29 games.

The WHL’s Edmonton Oil Kings have the third overall pick after they ended the 2022-23 season with a 10-54-4-0 record. The 2022 Ed Chynoweth Cup champions selected German forward Luca Hauf 59th overall in 2022 and he would go on to record 21 points (five goals) in 45 games. Hauf also represented Germany at the 2023 World Juniors. The Oil Kings passed on its second selection last year.

As was the case a year ago, Russian and Belarusian players will be ineligible for selection in the 2023 CHL Import Draft. For the 2023 CHL Import Draft, players who have been a resident in Russia or Belarus at any time over the past 24 months are ineligible to be drafted. The only exception is a Russian or Belarussian player who was previously drafted by a CHL club and subsequently deleted on or before the cut-down date in 2023.

Over the past three seasons, the CHL Import Draft has seen a multitude of players chosen who would then go on to hear their name called at the NHL Draft such as Maxim Barbashev (MON/NYR), Jakub Brabenec (SHE/VGK), Fabian Lysell (VAN/BOS), Samuel Knazko (SEA/CBJ), Pavel Mintyukov (SAG/OTT/ANA), Matvey Petrov (NB/EDM), Servac Petrovsky (OS/MIN), Vinzenz Rohrer (OTT/MTL), Martin Rysavy (MJ/CBJ), Matyas Sapovaliv (SAG/VGK), David Spacek (SHE/MIN) and Stanislav Svozil (REG/CBJ).

Order of selections for 2023 CHL Import Draft