Spirit select defenseman Gordei Khotkov, forward Dmitri Savin in 2026 CHL Import Draft
Saginaw, MI – The Saginaw Spirit completed the 2026 CHL Import Draft on Tuesday, selecting defenseman Gordei Khotkov and forward Dmitri Savin from Russia.
Round 1 | 16th overall | (D) Gordei Khotkov
Khotkov (KAWT-kawv) is a left-shot defenseman standing at 6’5” 210lbs. The 16-year-old is from Yaroslavl, Russia, and spent the 2025-2026 season with the Lokomotiv Yaroslavl and CSKA Moskva programs, playing at both the U16 and U17 level.
His longest stretch of regular season games came with CSKA Moskva’s U17 team, with nine points (3G-6A) over a 12-game span and 27 PIM. Khotkov also dominated at the U16 Russia Cup with CSKA Moskva, registering 31 points (13G-18A) in 19 games as the tournament’s highest-scoring defenseman. He represented Russia internationally at the U16 level, recording four assists in four games.
Across all levels and tournaments, Khotkov appeared in 56 games in 2025-2026, scoring 24G-39A—63P.
Round 1 | 31st overall | (F) Dmitri Savin
Savin (SAVV-in) is a left-shot forward from Novosibirsk, Russia. He stands at 6’2” 190lbs and played with CSKA Moskva’s U17 and U18 teams in the 2025-2026 regular season. Savin also played a game with Kransnaya Armiya Moskva of the Russian junior league.
With CSKA’s U17 program, the 2009-born Savin led the team with 29 goals and 59 points across 32 games. His 30 assists were good for second on the team. His points-per-game increased with the U18’s as he posted 24G-19A—43P in just 19 games.
Savin participated in both the U17 (7G-5A—12P, 7GP) and U18 (6G-6A—12P, 8GP) Finals series with CSKA. He was tied for third in team scoring with the Gold Star Hockey U18s at the Andrews International Showcase (3G-7A—10P).
Two of Saginaw’s picks from last summer’s 2025 CHL Import Draft just heard their names called in the 2026 Upper Deck NHL Draft. Forward Nikita Klepov was drafted 15th overall by the Anaheim Ducks after a record-setting rookie season with the Spirit. Goaltender Stepan Shurygin was a 6th round pick by the Tampa Bay Lightning after a season with the most games played of any OHL goaltender.
For the second straight year, the CHL Import Draft consisted of three rounds as the CHL enters its second season with three import player spots available on each club’s roster. As a reminder, new rules are in effect for this year’s draft: 20-year-old import players are eligible to be selected in any round, while 16-year-old import players may only be selected in the first round.
CHL clubs may carry a maximum of one 16-year-old import player per season. That player cannot be traded or replaced by another import player during his 16-year-old season. If a 16-year-old import player is released to another level of hockey during the regular season or deleted from a club’s roster, that club will be limited to two import players for the remainder of the regular season and playoffs.
