The Sarnia Sting have selected Swedish Centre Hugo Leufvenius with the 22nd overall pick in Wednesday's CHL Import Draft.
The 18-year-old Stockholm native scored six goals and added 13 assists in 42 games with the Linkoping HC under 20 team last season.
Sarnia Sting GM Nick Sinclair is excited.
"This is a guy I've seen play multiple times, going back to some international tournaments over the past couple of years," says Sinclair. "We had him earmarked for a while now. We think he's going to be a really impactful player in our league and an important player for our team going forward with the group that we have. We're excited that we were able to draft him today."
Sinclair says he's a very skilled player.
"He's a big kid, 6'3'' and 215lbs, and skates really well for his size," says Sinclair. "He's got good hockey sense, competes really hard, plays a physical game and also has a good skill set. He can make plays, makes his teammates better and can score as well."
Leufvenius is the third Swedish-born player to be selected by the Sting in the CHL Import draft. Most recently, the Sting selected Ludvig Rensfeldt in 2011 with the 49th overall pick, and Ted Brithen in 2009 with the 75th overall pick.
With Flames’ draft pick, Adam Ruzicka expected to return for the 2017-18 campaign, the Sting have forgone their second round pick in the draft (82nd overall).
The Barrie Colts took Russian forward Andrei Svechnikov with the first overall pick. The Niagara Ice Dogs picked Maple Leafs 2017 draft choice Timothy Liljegren with the 12th selection.
