It was a place the Kamloops Blazers haven’t ventured into during the CHL Import Draft for over 15 years.
The hockey club selected 17-year-old Russian forward Roman Makarov with the 38th overall pick in the first round – the first Russian drafted by the Blazers since the 2004 selection of forward Anatoli Vasilyev, who was the last in a steady stream of Russian selections.
As with the Import Draft, the question always remains – will the player come over to North America?
The biggest stumbling block right now is travelling during a pandemic along with dealing with restrictions that players coming into Canada from overseas face.
Makarov’s North American agent, Scott Norton, tells NL Sports they are working on it.
“We’re optimistic that he’ll be in [Kamloops] by the start of the season. We can’t guarantee he’ll be here day one of training camp or in the lineup the first game of the season,” Norton said. “Our hope is that it’s not too far behind and certainly he’s a big part of the team moving forward.”
The six-foot-five forward is highly touted with the potential to be a good prospect for the 2022 NHL Entry Draft. Norton says Kamloops is the route he thinks would work well for the big Russian.
“From the start he wanted to be over here [in North America]. He’s very excited. I’ve talked to him about some of the players from Russia who have come to the CHL and onto the NHL. I think with his size and style of play, the CHL is the right route,” he said.
“You look at Kamloops and the talent they have…hopefully he’ll be able to fit right in there.”
Makarov projects as a top-nine forward who will be looking to make an impression from there. So far, he remains unsigned but the Blazers are also in the midst of hiring a General Manager to replace Matt Bardsley.
The Blazers other import selection, Swedish defenceman Viktor Persson is signed and expected to be here in the fall. A mobile defenseman, Persson was a seventh round pick of the Vancouver Canucks in the 2020 NHL Draft.
