The Calgary Hitmen had selections 35 and 92 at the 2021 CHL Import Draft on Wednesday.
With their first pick, the Hitmen headed to Russia and selected Maxim Muranov. The 17-year-old forward is listed as 6-foot, 146-pounds.
Muranov played 2020-21 with Dynamo Moskva’s U17 and U18 teams. He scored three goals and added two assists in 11 games at the U17 level while contributing four goals and nine assists in 10 games at the U18 level.
Muranov is signed to play with MHK Dynamo Moskva of the MHL in 2021-22, so there is some risk with the Hitmen making this pick.
Later in the draft, the Hitmen took 2004-born forward Anton Astashevich of Belarus. The 17-year-old is listed as being 5-foot-10, 137-pounds.
He played the 2020-21 season with Team Belarus U18 in the Belarus2 league. He produced two goals and eight assists in 36 games with the team.
Astashevich played the 2019-20 season as a member of Team Belarus U17 and scored 14 goals and added 28 assists in 46 games.
“We are very excited to draft both Maxim and Anton and welcome them to our program,” said Hitmen General Manager Jeff Chynoweth in a press release. “We entered this draft looking to build around our existing group of 17 and 18-year-old’s and believe their potential skill will complement the depth we have in our 2003 and 2004 age groups.”
