Import draft: 3 OHL teams
The three round, 2025 Canadian Hockey League import draft is in the books. And following is a Hockey News Windsor focus on three Ontario Hockey League teams — alphabetically, the Brantford Bulldogs, Flint Firebirds and Windsor Spitfires — and what they were able to come away with from the recent CHL import draft.
BRANTFORD
The Bulldogs clicked on Czechia forward Adam Benak and defenseman Vladimir Dravecky in the first round and Moldovan blue liner Alexander Karmanov in the third round, much to the delight of rookie Brantford general manager Spencer Hyman.
“We are thrilled with how the 2025 import draft played out for us,” Hyman relayed to Hockey News Windsor. “Adding the elite skill of Adam Benák up front, an elite defenceman in Vladimir Dravecky on the back end and the biggest hockey player in the world in Alexander Karmanov (who is an incredible seven feet tall and weighs more than 270 pounds) gives us three very different exciting players.”
Notably, following a pre draft trade with the OHL’s Peterborough Petes to obtain the second overall selection in the import lottery — Kelowna Rockets of the Western Hockey League had the no. 1 overall pick — the Bulldogs took the small but ultra skilled and speedy Benak, who was a fourth round nab by the Minnesota Wild at the recent National Hockey League draft.
FLINT
The Firebirds had two first round selections and managed to utilize both of them on players who are NHL draft picks.
Flint used the fifth overall pick — which was acquired in a trade with the Guelph Storm of the OHL — on Latvian defenseman Darels Uljanskis and the 23rd overall pick on Belarusian goalie Yevgeni Prokhorov.
Uljanskis was selected by the Anaheim Ducks in the seventh round of the 2024 NHL draft.
Flint used its original first round pick — number 23 overall — on Prokhorov. Prokhorov hails from Lida, Belarus and was drafted by the Buffalo Sabres in the seventh round of the 2025 NHL draft.
WINDSOR
Of the three players taken by the Spitfires, the one who stands out the most is dazzling Slovakian forward Michael Svrcek, a dynamite skater who Windsor took with the 53rd overall pick of the first round.
Prior to being taken by the Spitfires, Svreck was a fourth round pick of the Detroit Red Wings at the 2025 NHL draft.
Mark Seidel, who is the recently hired director of player personnel for the Spitfires, relayed to Hockey News Windsor that Svrcek “skates exceptionally well. He has excellent offensive instincts, consistently attacks with speed, has shown a willingness to play physical and is an elite guy on the penalty kill.”