The Victoria Royals appear to have scored a steal with the 23rd overall pick in the 2024 Canadian Hockey League import draft.
The Royals took six-foot-one forward Markus Loponen, who played for Finland at the 2023 Under-18 Hlinka Gretzy Cup, and was selected in the fifth round of the 2024 NHL draft by the Winnipeg Jets.
“Markus is a competitive two-way player that brings skill and playmaking ability to our lineup,” said Royals GM Jake Heisinger, the son of Jets director of hockey operations Craig Heisinger.
Loponen was the captain and third-leading scorer last season with Kärpät of the U-20 Finnish SM-sarja with 25 goals and 29 assists for 54 points in 45 games. Internationally, he has played 19 games for Finland’s U-18 team with three goals and eight assists for 11 points.
“He is a guy we expect will play in all situations and will be a key contributor to our group,” said Jake Heisinger.
Laponen was among six players selected in last weekend’s 2024 NHL draft who were drafted Wednesday in the CHL import draft. The Medicine Hat Tigers got two of them with Finnish defencemen Niilopekka Muhonen, who went in the fifth round to the Dallas Stars, and Veeti Vaisanen, who went in the third round to Utah HC. Finnish forward and New Jersey Devils third-rounder Kasper Pikkarainen went to the Red Deer Rebels, German blue-liner and Buffalo Sabres seventh-rounder Norwin Panocha to the Prince Albert Raiders and Czech forward and Toronto Maple Leafs fifth-round Miroslav Holinka to the Edmonton Oil Kings.
With its second selection in the 2024 CHL import draft, 83rd overall, Victoria took another Hlinka Gretzy Cup international in forward Simon Pohludka, whose goal and four points over five games helped Czechia win the silver medal in 2023. He has represented Czechia 23 times in U-18 with four goals and 10 assists for 14 points.
The six-foot-one Pohludka played club last season with the U-18 and U-20 Pelicans of the SM-sarja. He had a team-leading 23 goals and 24 assists for 47 points in 37 games for the U-18 Pelicans and was named a U-18 SM-sarja first-team all-star. He was called up for four games with the U-20 Pelicans. Pohludka was ranked 109th among European skaters for the 2024 NHL draft but not selected.
“Simon is a hardworking, skilled player that has shown the ability to play with other talented players. We feel he can be a good player in this league,” said Heisinger.
Each CHL team is allowed two import players, who mostly come from Europe. The Royals were looking to fill their allotment for next season after it was announced that forward Robin Sapoušek will be returning to Czechia to play pro for HC Energie Karlovy Vary and that Norwegian forward Casper Haugen Evensen has been released.
Two-season Royals player Sapoušek won silver with Czechia in the 2023 world junior championship and bronze in the 2024 world juniors but was injured in the latter tournament and did not return to play for the Royals. Evensen, who represented Norway in the 2024 world junior tournament, had 15 goals and 19 assists for 34 points last season in Victoria.
The CHL import draft includes the Western Hockey League, Ontario Hockey League and Quebec Major Junior Hockey League.
The first overall selection was Calgary Flames NHL first-round draft pick Matvei Gridin of Russia by the Val-d’Or Foreurs of the QMJHL.
The WHL team with the highest selection was Kamloops and the Blazers took Czech forward Vit Zahejsky with the second-overall pick.
ICE CHIPS: Four Royals are skating in NHL development camps this week, two with the NHL teams that drafted them and two undrafted players as free-agent invitees. Defenceman Nate Misskey, selected by San Jose last weekend in the 2024 draft, is at the Sharks prospect camp at Tech CU Arena in the Silicon Valley with top overall NHL selection Macklin Celebrini. Fellow Royals blue-liner Justin Kipkie, selected in last year’s NHL draft by the Arizona Coyotes, is having a change of scenery with the franchise becoming Utah HC and holding camp in Park City. Austin Zemlak, under the radar but quietly effective on the Victoria blue line, is a free-agent invitee to the Golden Knights camp at City National Arena in Las Vegas and Royals forward Reggie Newman got rewarded for his non-stop motor with a free-agent invite to the Utah HC camp in Park City.
