Troops grab Grachev in Import Draft
BRAMPTON, Ont. – The Brampton Battalion chose Russian centre Evgeny Grachev in the first round of the Canadian Hockey League’s Import Draft on Thursday.
Grachev was a third-round choice, 75th overall, by the New York Rangers in the National Hockey League’s Entry Draft on Saturday. Grachev, who played in 2007-08 with Yaroslavl Lokomotiv of the Russian Elite League, was ranked ninth among European-based skaters by the NHL’s Central Scouting department.
The Ontario Hockey League’s Battalion, which held the 43rd pick, made a trade with the Niagara IceDogs to move up to No. 40 to get Grachev in the CHL Import Draft, which includes clubs in the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League and Western Hockey League.
Stan Butler, Battalion director of hockey operations and head coach, acquired the 40th pick by giving Niagara the option of flipping first-round choices with the Troops in one of 2009, 2010 and 2011.
“I got a feeling that someone in one of the other leagues was going to step up and take him, so I had to move forward and make the trade with the IceDogs.”
The transaction moved the Battalion ahead of the QMJHL’s Saint John Sea Dogs and the WHL’s Seattle Thunderbirds.
Butler acknowledged that, because they drafted him first, the Rangers have the right to place Grachev with the Hartford Wolf Pack, their American Hockey League affiliate, if he doesn’t stay in the NHL.
“With Russian players, there’s always some uncertainty about whether they’ll come over, but one thing I got from the Rangers, as well as other teams that interviewed him, is that he wanted to come over and play in North America.”
Grachev, a six-foot-three, 202-pound left shot, turned 18 on Feb. 21. Swedish defenceman Alexander Eriksson, selected last year, is the other member of the Battalion’s two-player import contingent.
Grachev, who figures to become the first Russian to play for the Battalion, is a native of Khabarovsk, birthplace of former NHL star Alexander Mogilny. It has a population of 579,000 and is the second-largest city in the Russian Far East behind Vladivostok. The rail distance of Khabarovsk from Moscow is 8,523 kilometres.
Grachev played for host Russia in the World Under-18 Championship at Kazan in April, recording two goals and three assists for five points in six games. He scored the winning goal in a group game against the Canadian entry, which was captained by the Battalion’s Cody Hodgson and included teammate Matt Duchene. Canada defeated Russia 8-0 in the gold medal game.
Butler said he spoke to Gordie Clark, the Rangers’ director of player personnel, about Grachev, who is attending a club prospect camp this week in New York.
“The Rangers think he’s a good player. He’s a big, strong guy who can come in and be a solid player for us.”
The CHL Import Draft sees the 60 clubs conduct two rounds of selections via telephone.
The Sudbury Wolves picked left winger Nikita Filatov of Russia with the first overall selection. Filatov was the sixth overall pick by the Columbus Blue Jackets in the NHL Entry Draft last Friday night. Selections then rotated among clubs from the three leagues in inverse order of regular-season finish.
Butler said the Battalion would not exercise its second-round pick, 103rd overall.
