Who will report to the CHL?

In case you missed it, the CHL Import Draft took place on June 30. A record 12 Swedish players were selected in the Draft with Gabriel Landeskog leading the way as the 3rd pick overall.

Swedish players aren't known to make the jump to the Canadian juniors, but will this year be different? To try and answer this, I have taken the time to find information about as many players as possible of the Swedish players selected. I also did the same thing with the two Danish players selected, who played in Sweden last season.

From the early looks of it, it seems like a lot of these players will report to their respective teams. One thing is for sure though, last year's list seems incredibly small and weak compare to this year's. So enjoy!

3. Gabriel Landeskog, RW, Djurgården (J20/SEL) —> Plymouth (OHL)
According to Hockeymagasinet.com, it is relatively certain that Landeskog will make the jump and play for Plymouth. Gabriel has avoided the signing of a contract with Djurgården's senior team all summer so far and the site says it has been a dream of his to play in the Canadian juniors.

9. Robin Lehner, G, Frölunda (J20) —> Sault Ste. Marie (OHL)
Hockey in Swengligh wrote before about how Lehner was interested in moving to the CHL. Apparently the Ottawa prospect made his decision during the NHL Draft and will indeed make the jump.

23. Alexander Urbom, D, Djurgården (J20/SEL) —> Brandon (WHL)
The Devils prospect Urbom has been rumored to sign with a team in HockeyAllsvenskan for next season. EP Blog had a talk with his agent, Peter Werner, who said that it was expected that one CHL team would take a chance on Urbom. Nothing is done though and the agent was going to have a chat with Alex about it. So HockeyAllsvenskan or WHL for Urbom.

26. Fredrik Cedergren, RW, HV71 (J20) —> Prince Albert (WHL)
Bama's Blogg has reported earlier about Cedergren looking to play college hockey in the USA next season. That blog speculates now that it is likely Fredrik will report, because of the earlier reports already saying he is on the way to North America.

41. John Persson, RW, Mora (J18/J20) —> Red Deer (WHL)
The info Red Deer Rebels head coach/vice-president of hockey operations Jesse Wallin has gotten is that Persson will be coming over for sure. You can read Wallin's quote here.

45. Patrik Andersson, D, Brynäs (J20) —> Kitchener (OHL)
There has been rumors about Andersson going to Borås in HockeyAllsvenskan. Kitchener traded for this pick on Draft day though, which makes you wonder if they maybe know he will come over. That's just me speculating though.

57. Hampus Gustafsson, LW, Malmö (J20/SWE-2) —> Saskatoon (WHL)
It was expected that Gustafsson would get drafted. In an interview with Johans Blogg, he confirms that he will go over and try to make the team.

61. Victor Hertzberg, RW, Frölunda (J20) —> Cape Breton (QMJHL)
General Manager and Head Coach of Cape Breton, Mario Durocher, says he has been in contact with Hertzberg almost every day in the last week and that Victor is excited to be coming over.

62. Kalle Ekelund, D, Nybro (SWE-2) —> London (OHL)
Ekelund says in an interview with Barometern that the goal is to play with London next season and he is very excited about being drafted by them.

64. Jacob Berglund, LW, Malmö (J20/SWE-2) —> Portland (WHL)
Jacke confirms his plans of reporting to Portland in the newspaper Kvällsposten, which came as no surprise. Check out this YouTube clip of him, that I uploaded last fall.

71. Sebastian Svendsen, C/W, Frölunda (J20) — > Vancouver (WHL)
Svendsen was the first Dane picked in the Draft. He says to the Danish site, Hockeymagasinet, that he was surprised by Vancouver drafting him as it wasn't a team he had talked with. Svendsen is planning on making the jump, but he is under contract with Frölunda and a few details must be worked out first.

74. Oskar Orrpars, D, Djurgården (J18) —> Lewiston (QMJHL)
Orrpars has come over and played a lot for Lewiston GM Roger Shannon's V-Reds development program in Fredericton, New Brunswick. Shannon says he was able to convince Oskar to come over to North America and play full-time.

75. Ted Brithén, C, Rögle (J20/SEL) —> Sarnia (OHL)
Brithén confirms through Rögle's homepage that he will play for Sarnia next season. He sees it as a step in his developement to take a spot on Rögle's senior team within a couple of years.

76. Rasmus Damgaard, D, Malmö (J20) —> Medicine Hat (WHL)
Willie Desjardin, the GM and head coach of the Tigers, says there is a 50-50 chance Danish defenseman Damgaard will stay and play back in Europe this season. Rasmus got a newly signed 1-year contract with Hvidovre in the Danish top league, which is probably what is causing the problems.
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