The Seattle Thunderbirds selected forward Gustav Olhaver from Sweden on Tuesday in the first round, 44th overall, of the Canadian Hockey League (CHL) Import Draft.
“We are excited to add a NHL drafted player with his size where we were picking in the draft,” said T-Birds general manager Russ Farwell in a media release. “We feel Gustav will step in and help our team right away.”
“I am real excited to come to Seattle and develop as a player,” said Olhaver from Angelholm, Sweden. “I’m a tall forward that can get to the net and be hard to move. I can play a physical game and am smart with the puck. I am happy for the opportunity to play with Seattle.”
Olhaver was selected by the Colorado Avalanche in the seventh round, 191st overall, in the 2015 NHL Draft. He was ranked 89th by NHL Central Scouting in their final rankings for 2015 NHL Draft eligible players from Europe.
Olhaver, who is 6 feet, 6 inches and 213 pounds, played for Rogle in the Swedish Junior League last season. He played 41 games with the Rogle U-20 team and had six goals and six assists for 12 points. Olhaver played a combined 18 games with the Rogle U-18 Elite and U-18 Allsvenskan teams. He had 14 goals and 11 assists for 25 points.
Olhaver was a member of Team Sweden in April at the 2015 Under-18 World Championship held in Switzerland. He had one goal in five games with Sweden. He played against current T-Birds Mathew Barzal and Ethan Bear in a quarterfinal game won by Team Canada 5-3.
Every CHL team is allowed a maximum of two non-North American players on their roster each season. These players must be drafted in the CHL Import Draft held each summer to be eligible to play. The T-Birds play in the Western Hockey League, part of the CHL.
Teams are permitted to select in the Import Draft if they have less than two import players on their current roster. Entering the draft the T-Birds had one Import Player, center Alexander True from Denmark, on the roster.
The two-round draft took place online with the order of selection rotating through each of the CHL’s three leagues using an inverse order of final regular season standings within each league from the 2014-15 season.
The T-Birds home opener for the 2015-16 season is Saturday, Oct. 3, against the Prince George Cougars at 7:05 p.m. at the ShoWare Center.
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