Wheaties add duo in import draft

The Brandon Wheat Kings picked up an overage forward from Russia with some advance planning and had a talented 19-year defenceman from Finland fall into their laps in Tuesday’s Canadian Hockey League import draft.

The Western Hockey League team took overage Russian forward Kristof Muissu with the 45th pick of the first round and 19-year-old Finnish defenceman Ilari Kapanen with the scheduled 106th overall pick, although there had already been seven passes by that point.

It’s the first year CHL teams can draft overagers.

Brandon head coach and general manager Marty Murray said he and director of hockey operations Chris Moulton were pleased with their day’s work.

“Sometimes things work out, sometimes they don’t,” Murray said with a chuckle. “We were contemplating taking a D with our first pick, and Kapanen wouldn’t have been in that picture.

“We had this in the works with Muissu for a number of months and were going to keep it under the radar. We were confident that the Russian would have been there in the second round, but there was too much risk in the D we had queued up there at 45.

“We took the sure thing: Sometimes patience pays off and it did today.”

The six-foot-three, 214-pound Muissu, 20, spent last season with Reaktor Nizhnekamsk in the Molodezhnaya Hokkeinaya Liga (MHL), where he had 34 goals and 35 assists in 57 games.

Elite Prospects shows that he has signed with Spartak Moskva in the KHL, but he is free to come over.

“He’s a big body with good hands,” Murray said. “He can score: He was top five in the league in scoring in a pretty good league.”

“He’s free to go,” Murray added. “Unless we get a bombshell dropped us, his agent has assured he’s 100 per cent clear and free to come.”

His father is a surgeon who came to St. Petersburg from Congo and his mother is a nurse.

Meanwhile, Kapanen’s father Kimmo was a goalie who enjoyed a long pro career, and his uncle Sami played 831 regular season games in the National Hockey League. Sami Kapanen and Murray actually played together with the Philadelphia Flyers, and Sami’s son Kasperi now skates with the Edmonton Oilers.

“They’re a really good family,” Murray said. “They have the pedigree obviously. He’s an excellent skater. He had some injuries last year that kept him on the shelf but he has a chance to be a world junior defenceman for Finland this year.

“He went to their summer camp and did really well and is getting invited back, he’s one of nine who is going back. It’s a real good pickup for us.”

The five-foot-11, 161-pound blue-liner had four points in eight games with Timrå IK U20, and played five games with HIFK in the Liiga, the top professional league in Finland.

He also suited up for Finland’s U19 and U20 teams.

Still, he didn’t come to their attention until Moulton heard from someone he knew as the draft was proceeding.

“A contact Chris had in Finland reached out,” Murray said. “It was probably about 10 picks before we were picking and we frantically did some research because honestly a couple of guys we had pegged went off the board. That’s what makes this draft so hard. “It changes by the second and you can’t trade after a couple of days prior. There are so many moving parts. It’s easily the most stressful draft. It goes quickly.”

The next job can actually be the bigger one, as CHL teams try to lure European players across the pond to Canada or the United States after they draft them. In this case, all indications suggest the two will be Wheat Kings next season.

“Both are excited,” Murray said. “From our understanding, they’re coming and there’s no having to re-recruit them, although we will sell the program to them for sure. All signs point to these guys 100 per cent coming and that’s a good start.

“We’re looking forward to moving forward. These guys are older players and hopefully they can come in and have an immediate impact on our team.”

Brandon’s third import is expected to be veteran goaltender Filip Ruzicka, with Finnish defenceman Samu Alalauri placed on a special list because he’s committed to the University of Massachusetts.

The WHL’s 23 clubs took 44 players, with 114 selected overall across the CHL.

ICINGS: The Seattle Thunderbirds have acquired 2009-born defenceman Owen Hayden of Calgary, a second-round pick in the import draft and a fourth-round pick in the 2028 WHL draft from the Kelowna Rockets in return for a first-round pick in the 2028 draft that originally belonged to Prince Albert Raiders, a third-round pick in 2027 and their first-round pick in Tuesday’s import draft, 33rd overall.

Former Wheat Kings forward Michael Dyck has returned to the Vancouver Giants as head coach and general manager after three seasons as an assistant coach with the American Hockey League’s Toronto Marlies. He previously served as head coach from 2018 to 2023 and also served as as an assistant coach (2002-05), scout (2009-10) and director of player development (2010-12). He played 13 games in Brandon during the 1986-87 season but spent most of his WHL career with the Regina Pats.

» pbergson@brandonsun.com