The Kamloops Blazers have signed a pair of 2005-born Czech defencemen to help bolster the blueline.

Both Matteo Koči and Vojtech Vochvest will be making their way to Kamloops in a few weeks. The pair were picked by the Blazers in the 2023 CHL Import Draft, Koči in the first round with the 58th overall pick and Vochvest in the second round with the 118th overall pick.

While both defenceman were expected to report to Kamloops, Blazers Head Coach and GM, Shaun Clouston, tells NL Sports, he’s happy to get the contracts signed.

“There is always some risk,” he said. “You can hear things from the agents but the potential risk that something changes and they decide to stay home. They could get a better offer to stay overseas so to get both these guys [is great].”

“We’ve got their transfer cards, we’ve got their contracts, they are committed. It is a very good feeling.”

Koci, native of Karlovy Vary, Czechia, played the 2022-23 season with the HC Energie Karlovy Vary U20 team. The six-foot defenceman had 20 points (seven goals and 13 assists) in 36 games.

Vochvest, a five-foot-eleven defenceman, put up six points (one goal and five assists) in 52 games with BK Mlada Boleslav’s U20 team in the 2022-23 season.

Both defencemen, who will be going into their 18-year-old WHL season, played for Czechia at the IIHF Under-18 World Championship in April. They’re also on Czechia’s World Junior radar for this year’s tournament in Sweden.

“We knew that we had to address the back end, just the depth,” Clouston added. “We got excited after we selected Koci. We really like him. We like his skill level, his mobility.”

“And then in the second round, again a little but surprised because Vochvest was a player that we liked. He’s more of a shutdown steady physical kind of defenceman.”

Import defenceman Aapo Sarell, who played the 2022-23 season in Kamloops, will play in his native Finland this coming season.

There is a chance that Slovakian forward Jakub Demek – who was injured for much of last season – will return for another season in the WHL, though he would count as both an import player and an overager.

– With files from Jon Keen