Battalion sign Import selection Natan Teshome

NORTH BAY, Ont. — Finnish import Natan Teshome has signed an education and development agreement with the North Bay Battalion, the Ontario Hockey League club announced Wednesday.

North Bay selected right winger Teshome in the first round of the Canadian Hockey League Import Draft on July 3. The five-foot-11, 172-pound resident of Lappeenranta turned 18 on June 9.

“We’re very happy to welcome Natan to the Battalion family,” said general manager John Winstanley.

“He brings a lot of experience and a style of play that we feel will really complement the group we have returning. Natan has represented Finland on the world stage and is an incredibly versatile player.”

Teshome, whose International Ice Hockey Federation paperwork has been completed, will be in attendance when the Troops open training camp Aug. 31. Their first of four exhibition games is scheduled Sept. 6 against the visiting Ottawa 67’s.

In 37 games last season with Helsinki’s Jokerit U20s, Teshome scored four goals and added 10 assists for 14 points with 18 penalty minutes. The left shot had one goal and four assists for five points with two PiM in seven playoff games.

Teshome played 19 games with Finland’s U18 national team, scoring one goal and earning three assists for four points with no penalty minutes.

Teshome, who can play centre, fills the Battalion’s import quota with Ukrainian left winger Ihnat Pazii, an OHL rookie in 2023-24 who turns 18 on Dec. 4.

North Bay also holds the OHL rights to Latvian right winger Sandis Vilmanis, a fifth-round pick of the Florida Panthers in the 2022 National Hockey League Draft who has signed a three-year entry-level contract.

The Battalion selected Teshome, also known as Gashaw-Teshome, 45th overall in the two-round draft conducted over the Internet after three teams earlier in the selection order passed. North Bay did not exercise its second-round pick.