Christoffer Sedoff (Photo from Twitter @leijonat)

By Troy Gillard

CHL Import Draft

Rebels select Finnish defenceman, stay patient with Zaytsev

Jun 27, 2019 | 3:10 PM

The Red Deer Rebels made one selection at the 2019 CHL Import Draft on Thursday, taking 17-year-old Finnish defenceman Christoffer Sedoff at 25^th overall.

The left-shooting rearguard from Helsinki is listed at six-feet tall and 184 pounds and has played for his country at the U16, U17 and U18 levels, including at last year’s Hlinka Gretzky Cup.

“He is a smart player, a competitive player, a guy who advances the puck well. He can be a hard guy to play against and be aggressive. He’s not a guy who the coach is going to have to push,” explains Shaun Sutter, Rebels Asst. GM.

“The nice thing about him being a player from Finland is he’s very adjusted to the North American style. Obviously, he’s used to playing on bigger ice, but just in terms of the way he plays we’re confident, even though he’s only 17 and there will be some adjustments with him coming over, that his style of play is going to fit right into the WHL and how we want to play.”

Sutter feels Sedoff is a good fit for the Rebels both now and in the long-term.

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“This is a player who’s projected to be drafted into the NHL,” he notes. “Anytime it’s a player of that caliber you expect him to be a good fit on your team and a guy who contributes. You don’t want to label a player or put any pressure on him, but we’re confident that even though he’s only 17 he’ll be a good player for us and not only help our older group of defencemen but some of our younger defencemen, too.

The Rebels passed on their second selection Thursday in order to keep Russian forward Oleg Zaytsev remains on their roster for the time being. The 18-year-old is currently deciding on his future after going unselected in last weekend’s NHL Draft.

“We wanted to protect Oleg, he’s a real good player,” Sutter commented. “We thought it would be tough to get a player of his calibre in the first round let alone in the second round. We knew if we didn’t protect him there was a good chance another team was going to draft him. So we’ll be patient and see how it goes.”

Elliotte Friedman of Sportsnet is reporting that it’s possible Zaytsev signs in the KHL.

Excerpt from Elliotte Friedman’s “31 Thoughts” blog from June 25.

Sutter is confident that Zaytsev, who recorded 42 points in 2018-19, can improve oh his game should he return for a second season with the Rebels.

“If you look back at that draft class last year there are a lot of players who came to the CHL that were highly touted and maybe didn’t have the seasons they were hoping to. So you would expect all those players, now that they’re a year older and more prepared, that they’re going to reclaim their status and show everyone what they’re all about. I would put Oleg in that group.”