Hurricanes select trio in Import Draft

By Lethbridge Herald on July 3, 2025.

Lethbridge Herald

The Lethbridge Hurricanes selected a trio of players during the Canadian Hockey League’s Import Draft on Wednesday.

With their first pick, the Canes selected 17-year-old Czechia forward Filip Novak at 52nd overall in the first round, and it was due to an injury that he suited up in only 14 games last season with HC Sparta Praha Club.

The six-foot-two, 200-pound forward had 15 points in those games and a plus-5 rating.

He tallied 12 points in eight contests at the U17 level in Czechia and tacked on three points in six games at the U20 level.

Novak had 44 points in the season prior along with a plus15 rating with the U17 Sparta Praha Club.

The Canes then drafted another Czechia player in the second round as defenceman Tomas Malinek was taken 113th overall.

Malinek played with the HC Sparta Praha U20 Club last season where he amassed 17 points and a plus/minus of 9 and finished third in defenceman scoring on the team.

The six-foot-one, 176-pound defenceman helped Czechia to a silver medal at the 2024 Hlinka Gretzky Cup in Edmonton and has international experience with Czechia’s U18 team.

Lastly, Lethbridge selected Mykolas Skadauskas in the third round at 174th overall.

The Lithuania product had 35 points in Sweden last season while playing for the IFK Taby HC J18 Club, he then while with the Huddinge IK J18 team collected 24 points in 13 regular season games and with Huddinge J20 club, he tacked on five points as well last season.

Canes at development camp

 Six Canes players are at NHL development camps this week including Noah Chadwick (Toronto Maple Leafs), Brayden Yager (Winnipeg Jets), Caden Price (Seattle Kraken), Carsen Adair (Vancouver Canucks), Jackson Unger (Washington Capitals) and Miguel Marques (Nashville Predators).