Pats pick goalie, and defender imports
The Regina Pats made two selections in the Canadian Hockey League Import Draft on Wednesday.
With the 36th overall selection, the Pats drafted goaltender Ewan Huet, the son of former NHL goalie Cristobal Huet.
The 18-year-old Huet played last season for Lausanne in the Switzerland U20 league, going 14-12-2 with a 2.73 goalsagainst average and two shutouts.
The six-foot, 168-pound netminder, who has dual citizenship in France and Switzerland, played for the Swiss at the IIHF world under-18 championship, going 2-2-0 with a 2.50 goalsagainst average and .900 save percentage.
With the 96th overall pick, the Pats then selected Norwegian 17-year-old defenceman Stian Solberg.
The six-foot-two, 196-pounder notched one goal and three assist last year in Norway's top professional league. He also represented his country at the IIHF world under-18 championship.
Last year, the Pats featured two prominent imports in Czech defenceman Stanislav Svozil and Russian forward Alexander Suzdalev, who will both turn pro next season. Svozil was the 15th overall selection in the 2020 CHL Import Draft, while Suzdalev was the 95th pick in 2021.
Elsewhere, the Wenatchee Wild made a splash with their first selection, 60th overall, as they drafted forward Kenta Isogai, who is the first Japanese player selected in the draft.
The 18-year-old Isogai had played the last three seasons in the USHL with the Youngstown Phantoms.
Overall, WHL teams selected 28 players from nine nations with the most (14) coming from Czechia.