DUBNetwork has confirmed the 2021 Canadian Hockey League Import Draft is scheduled for Wednesday, June 30. The draft was held on the same calendar day last year.
There is no confirmation regarding the order of selection as of this writing. In a normal season, teams from the Ontario Hockey League, Quebec Major Junior Hockey League, and Western Hockey League alternate making selections in reverse order of CHL overall standings.
For the 2020-21 season, teams in the QMJHL played as many as 40 games while teams in the WHL got in up 24 games. Using win percentage won’t work to determine the draft order because the OHL didn’t play any games at all due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The OHL halted its return to play plans and fully cancelled its 2020-21 season last month.
The annual CHL Import Draft consists of two rounds, with all 60 CHL teams across the three leagues granted two picks. Last year saw 66 players selected with 20 WHL nabbing a total of 25 of them.
Calgary, Swift Current, Tri-City, Vancouver, and Winnipeg each made two picks in 2020 while the Portland Winterhawks and Everett Silvertips passed on each of their picks.
The first player selected by a WHL club last year was 2002-born defenseman Oliver Fatul, who went in the first round, 3rd overall to the Swift Current Broncos.
This season, Fatul was scoreless in 15 games with Vlci Zilina of Slovenská Hokejová Liga, which is the second tier of professional hockey in Slovakia.
Each CHL team is allowed to carry two import players on its roster in the regular season and teams often don’t use both draft selections because of import spots already taken on the roster.
