Rebels to make one selection at 2024 CHL Import Draft
The Red Deer Rebels are set to make one selection during Wednesday’s 2024 CHL Import Draft.
The draft gets underway at 9 a.m. MT with the Rebels owning the 44th overall pick in round one. With Czech centre Samuel Drancak returning for his second season with the club in 2024-25, and each Canadian Hockey League team permitted two imports on their roster, the Rebels will be passing on their second selection (104th overall).
“Obviously we saw what Drancak did in his rookie season and we’re optimistic he can take another step and play well for this club coming up this year,” said Rebels Associate General Manager Shaun Sutter.
Drancak, selected 54th overall by the Rebels at last year’s CHL Import Draft, collected 33 points in 68 games in 2023-24 and steadily improved as the season went on. He played for Czechia at the 2024 World U18 Hockey Championships.
“When European players come over, it’s no different when you see North American players go to Europe, there is an adjustment. It’s not so much the hockey part, it’s living in a different culture, different language, learning little things like going to the gas station. A lot of those things are new for them,” Sutter explained.
“They mature off the ice, and they mature on the ice, and you really see them accelerating their progress in the second half of season. Sam had a great first season for us, and we’re looking for him to build off that and we know he’s going to be a real good player for us.”
The Rebels have an open import spot for 2024-25 as Frantisek Formanek, chosen 14th overall at the 2021 CHL Import Draft, is not returning for a fourth season with the club. The 20-year-old Czech forward who amassed 91 points in 161 games with the Rebels will be playing pro hockey this year with HC Dynamo Pardubice B (Czechia2 league).
With Chase Wutzke leading a solid stable of goaltending prospects, Sutter says the Rebels will be taking a skater with their lone pick on Wednesday.
“There’ll be a few teams passing on their selections, so we’ll pick a little bit earlier than 44th,” Sutter noted. “We know we won’t take a goalie but other than that, we’ll just sit back and wait and see who the best player is.”
Notable for the 2024 CHL Import Draft is the eligibility of Russian and Belarussian players following a two-year ban. Sutter expects it’ll have a big impact.
“Chicago picked a player second overall (at the 2024 NHL Draft) that would have played in the CHL. And there’s some other guys that played in the USHL, that were drafted in the NHL, they would have been CHL players as well, if the ban wasn’t in place.
“Hopefully, the Russian players won’t have any issues getting visas or playing in Canada, I think that’s a moving target and a question mark. But if you pick a Russian player, I think that’s what you’ve got to be prepared for. All you can do is gather information and be prepared for everything.
“At the end of the day, you hope your relationships with agents and people in Europe that you know really help you and pay dividends.”
The Rebels have had success picking in the in the 40s previously at the CHL Import Draft. They chose Czech defenceman Vojtech Port 49th overall in 2022. Port was off to a solid start with the Rebels before being squeezed out when star Finnish blue liner Christofer Sedoff returned for his overage season in Red Deer. In 2016, the Rebels took Russian rearguard Alexander Alexeyev, who played three outstanding seasons with the club and was a first-round pick of the Washington Capitals. In 2015, the Rebels went with Czech forward Michael Spacek, who piled up 139 points over two seasons in Red Deer.
