Wheat Kings grab Russian defenceman Busygin in import draft

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This article was published 02/07/2020 (2135 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

The Brandon Wheat Kings selected 17-year-old Russian defenceman Yaroslav Busygin during the Canadian Hockey League’s annual import draft on Tuesday.

With the 39th pick in the first round, Brandon grabbed the six-foot-two, 170-pound product of Korkino, a community of 38,000 located 1,780 kilometres east of Moscow.

The Wheat Kings decided not to use the 99th selection. 

Wheat Kings general manager Darren Ritchie said they liked what they saw on video of the young blue-liner.

“He’s a really steady, reliable player who plays the left side, and for a young guy to play the left side, we thought that was a real good asset to add to our team,” Ritchie said. 

The 2003-born left-handed shot played with three teams last season, serving as captain of Vityaz Podolsk U17 and U18, and also playing with Russkie Vityazi Chekhov.

In 57 games with the three clubs, he recorded 12 goals, 25 assists and 82 penalty minutes.

Busygin has an agent in North America, and the Wheat Kings reached out to him.

“We talked to his agent a fair bit and watched a lot of video on him as well as other players,” Ritchie said. “We got comfortable with his game, and understood what his game was.”

The Wheat Kings have learned the hard way over the years that it’s one thing to draft a player, and another for him to actually report.

The general manager is hopeful Busygin is interested in playing in North America.

“I think there is (an interest),” Ritchie said. “This process always takes some time. We’ll do it no differently than we have in the past, we’ll take our time with them and work away at it. I’m hoping we don’t have any hiccups. We’ll start working on that right away.”

Brandon also expects the return of 19-year-old Finnish winger Marcus Kallionkieli, who played 24 games with the Western Hockey League club last season after overcoming an offseason injury and then suffering a concussion in the second half of the season. 

The Wheat Kings were allowed a second import pick because Kallionkieli has signed an NHL contract with the Vegas Golden Knights, who selected him in the 2019 draft.

While Ritchie said before the draft his staff was considering a second choice, they ultimately passed because they were content with their import situation.

Brandon had a spot available with the graduation of Vegas goaltending prospect Jiri Patera of the Czech Republic, who signed a three-year, entry-level contract with Vegas on Tuesday.

In 2019, the Wheat Kings selected Kallionkieli and Russian winger Vladislav Firstov, who had earlier committed to the University of Connecticut and played there in 2019-20.

In the 2018 import draft, the Wheat Kings chose defenceman Eric Brannstrom of Sweden, who went pro and never played a WHL game. But in the second round, they grabbed Patera.

In 2017, they grabbed Colorado Avalanche prospect Martin Kaut, who turned pro instead. They passed on their second choice. 

With the first overall pick on Tuesday, the Ontario Hockey League’s North Bay Battalion chose Russian forward Matvei Petrov. 

The Swift Current Broncos were the first WHL club to pick, and they took Finnish defenceman Oliver Fatul third overall. In total, WHL clubs picked 25 players from eight different countries. 

Ritchie said there were no real surprises because of the nature of the event.

“The import draft is a little different because you just don’t know all the players, as compared to the bantam draft when you know pretty much everybody who is getting picked that day,” Ritchie said. “You’ve seen them or heard about them. In the import draft, you don’t always hear of all the players so it’s a little different than most drafts.”

The import draft is the last major event of the spring and summer on the junior hockey calendar every year. 

In a normal year, there would be player movement over the summer, something that may potentially decrease this year due to the uncertainty of what lies ahead. There was one minor deal on Tuesday, as the Swift Current Broncos dealt 16-year-old defenceman Wyatt Wilson to the Victoria Royals for a conditional fifth-round pick in 2023.

Ritchie is focusing on the team’s training camp, which the league said will start two weeks before the regular season opens. The WHL has set an Oct. 2 date for their potential return, which remains up in the air as Canada and the United States deal with the COVID-19 pandemic. 

“We’re making sure that we have everything prepared for camp once we decide when camp is going to be,” Ritchie said. “There is always stuff to do and going on but it will be quieter for sure.”

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