There should be a couple new Russian faces in Swift Current Broncos camp this year.
Swift Current picked Russian forwards Stepan Kuryachenkov and Alexei Grebnev in yesterday's CHL Import Draft.
"Both are committed, and both are excited to come over," said Broncos General Manager Chad Leslie.
Both forwards are 2008 born entering their 17-year-old seasons.
Kuryachenkov scored 27 goals and had 29 assists in 29 games for Salavat Yulaev Ufa in the Russian U17 league.
"Stepan is a really dynamic forward," Leslie said. "He competes and he's got a really good motor. He's got really good individual skill. He reminds me a lot of (Saskatoon Blades forward) Hayden Harsanyi. He's young and it's going to be a learning curve for him for sure. We always say here 18-18 and a half is when our guys start to pop. We're excited for him for sure."
Grebnev is 6'4 and 209lbs. He led the SKA St. Petersburg Russian U17 team with 14 goals and 32 assists in 36 games last season.
"He's a big strong guy that shoots the puck extremely well," Leslie said. "We really think there's some upside there for sure. When he was available for us in the second room I didn't think he'd quite be there. We're excited for him as well."
They are a couple of potential pieces for new Broncos Head Coach Dean DeSilva to factor into his lineup.
"We've got a couple of very, very skilled players," DeSilva said of the drafted players."(Kuryachenkov) is a very good skater, very skilled with the puck, very smart, very high hockey IQ. (Grebnev) great shot very, very big body. He's a big unit that that isn't afraid to go into the dirty areas and work hard. We're just putting those pieces together slowly and we'll see where everybody fits in and they'll dictate where they fit in."
Swift Current also has Swedish forward William Morin and overage Czech defenceman Marek Ročák. They were allowed to make an extra pick because one of their returning imports was an overage player.
The CHL has opened the door for teams to carry three import players in 2025-26.
Their two import picks add to a group of young forwards, skilled forwards tasked with replacing some of the scoring lost with the graduation or trading of Swift Current's top seven scorers from last season.
The Broncos signed 2009 born forward Brock Burch out of Iowa and traded for 2008 born forward Noah Kosick this spring. They join players like Carter Moen, Jayden Oleskiw, Aiden Sexsmith, Sawyer Dingman, and Ashton McCann who will battle to become Swift Current's young forward core next season.
Swift Current also added a 2029 3rd round WHL Prospects Draft pick from Calgary in a deal that saw them switch spots in the 1st round of yesterday's Import Draft.
The Hitmen moved up to 28th to pick Russian Andrei Molgachyov, while the Broncos dropped down to 59th in the 1st round where they drafted Kuryachenkov.