Tri-City picks up 2 defensemen in CHL Import Draft

The Tri-City Americans used both of their selections Wednesday during the CHL Import Draft.

With their first pick — 36th overall — the Americans selected 6-foot-3, 195-pound Russian defenseman Roman Kalinichenko.

Kalinichenko, 17, played for CSKA Moskva U17 last season, scoring two goals with four assists in 29 games. He also played in the World Under-17 Hockey Challenge, helping Russia to a third-place finish.

“Roman is a big, strong, physical D-man who competes hard and has a presence on the ice,” Tri-City general manager Bob Tory said in a news release. “He had a very good tournament at the World Under-17 Hockey Challenge and will play for Russia at the Ivan Hlinka Tournament in August.”

In the second round (96th overall), Tri-City drafted Sergei Sapego, a 6-2, 180-pound defenseman from Belarus.

Last season, Sapego, 18, played for Team Belarus 18, scoring three goals with 17 assists in 26 games. He also played for Team Belarus 20, registering one assist in 12 games.

He also played on the U18 team at the U18 World Junior Championship, where Belarus went 2-5. Sapego had one goal and one assist in 7 games.

“Sergei is a skilled defenseman who played for Belarus at the Macs Midget Tournament and at the World Under-18 Championhsip,” Tory said.

With the two picks, the Americans now have four import players — they can only keep two.

Already on the roster for Tri-City are forward Vladislav Lukin (Russia), who is an overage player, and defenseman Juuso Välimäki (Finland), a first-round NHL draft pick of the Calgary Flames.

This story was originally published June 28, 2017 at 9:00 PM with the headline "Tri-City picks up 2 defensemen in CHL Import Draft."