A gamble has paid off, as Swedish defenceman Adam Thilander has agreed to terms on a standard player’s agreement that includes an education package and will join the North Bay Battalion for the 2016-17 season, the Ontario Hockey League club announced Wednesday.
Thilander, a native of Skovde who turns 18 on Sept. 18, was selected 36th overall in the Canadian Hockey League Import Draft conducted via the Internet on June 28.
"Looking forward to the next chapter in my career, next destination," Thilander stated via Twitter this morning.
Battalion Head Coach Butler first saw Thilander last summer when he was coaching Team Canada at the Ivan Hlinka Memorial Tournament in the Czech Republic.
“I looked at our pick in the draft, we are going to pick the best possible player, I coached against him last summer at the Ivan Hlinka and I thought he was outstanding for the Swedish team in the under-18’s,” said Butler who believes Thilander is a highly, highly skilled player and could be a top three round pick in next summer's NHL Entry Draft.
"I thought it was going to be a long shot to be honest with you and he’s a very talented player, he played for a very good program in Skelleftea, they have one of the best programs in Sweden. Sometimes those type of guys aren’t the ones that come over because they are guys that fit very seamlessly into their system."
Butler felt Thilander wanted to come to North America in his draft year and former Battalion forward Alex Henriksson, who played with Thilander's brother, likely put in a good word about the Battalion program and North Bay in general.
The right-shot rearguard played last season with a variety of teams, including 38 games with the Skelleftea AIK 20-year-olds in which he scored three goals and added 12 assists for 15 points.
Thilander is set to join a Battalion defence corps that figures to have six holdovers in Riley Bruce, Zach Shankar, Mark Shoemaker, Cam Dineen, Jake Ramalho and Brady Lyle, who last week failed to make the Canadian roster for the current Ivan Hlinka tourney. Kyle Wood, eligible as an overager, is expected to play professionally in the system of the National Hockey League’s Arizona Coyotes.
Thilander joins left winger Max Kislinger, a resident of Farchant, Germany, in the Battalion’s two-man import contingent. Kislinger, 18, scored 12 goals and earned eight assists for 20 points in 68 games as a rookie last season.
