London Knights land Finnish winger, Russian centre in import draft

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Kasper Halttunen’s big scoring season with the London Knights is still paying off.

The Knights selected 19-year-old Finnish left winger Jesse Nurmi with the 58th selection in the Canadian Hockey League import draft Wednesday.

The New York Islanders fourth-round pick (113th overall) in 2023 is a good pal of Halttunen and has heard only great things about the reigning OHL champs.

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“Whenever you have a player who comes in, enjoys the environment and has a friendship with another player, that (friend) will immediately trust what they are saying more,” London associate GM Rob Simpson said. “It gives you a leg up with the player you’re trying to recruit.”

The Knights feel Nurmi, a six-foot, 172-pounder from Valkeala, Finland, has world junior potential this season. He played in the Finnish men’s league with the wonderfully named KooKoo Kouvola squad and also racked up four goals and eight points in six games with the U20 club team.

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“He can find the back of the net,” Simpson said. “He’s a competitive player who will drive that within a team and fits in really well with that competitive style we want to play.”

London has already held talks about reporting this fall with Nurmi, his agent and the Islanders. Those will continue throughout the summer.

“We have to do a little bit of work yet,” Simpson said, “but we’re hoping to have some more clarity and a better understanding here shortly (on his intentions).”

The Knights used their second-round import selection (118th overall) to take 17-year-old Russian centre Gleb Semenov. The six-foot-three, 183-pounder stood out as a terrific scorer for Moscow Spartak Juniors this season.

“We have to do some work on him (to get him overseas),” Simpson said. “He has skill and moves well for a big guy. There’s some stuff we like there and can work with.”

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Even with the two picks, the Knights retain the rights to Halttunen and Russian Ruslan Gazizov. Halttunen is currently at Sharks development camp while Gazizov was invited to development camp with the Anaheim Ducks.

Gazizov remains a potential major junior overager but will take his best crack at starting a pro career here in North America. Halttunen is eligible to play in the American league for the Barracuda but there is still a good chance he is returned to London.

“A lot of teams are starting to have a different mindset,” Simpson said. “There’s nothing wrong with a player being the best at that level and there are always things in your game to work on. Being able to dominate is a good thing. These players have lots of runway and years, so it’s good for them to develop at a level where they maintain confidence and work on things where they don’t feel like they’re just trying to survive out there.”

The Knights can only keep two imports on its roster. But the CHL has changed a rule that forced London to drop Swiss defender Daniil Ustinkov last season after Gazizov returned and Halttunen showed up.

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Now, a club has the ability to trade an immediately drafted import pick to another team if their two spots are already filled. Theoretically, the Knights could have four imports in camp and at that point, would be trying to make two trades involving European players.

AROUND THE RINK: London tough guy Sawyer Boulton signed a two-year contract with the American league’s Lehigh Valley Phantoms . . . The Knights say overage defenceman candidate Alec Leonard has recovered from his long-term injury suffered in the playoffs and is training this summer . . . Knights defenceman Henry Brzustewicz was invited to the United States’ Hlinka Gretzky Cup camp. The 17-year-old Michigander played a lot at forward down the stretch for London . . . Defenceman Jared Woolley went straight from the NHL draft in Vegas to development camp in Los Angeles after being a Kings sixth-round selection last weekend. “This year was a ton of fun,” he said about his experience with the Knights so far. “When you win as much as we did, you can’t complain. I’m pretty excited for this year. I think we’ll be strong again. We expect a lot.”

rpyette@postmedia.com

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